
■ : 3'5 



Booker 



. 



FIFTEEN YEARS 

AMONG THE MORMONS: 



BEING THB 



NARRATIVE OF MRS. MARY ETTIE V. SMITH, 

LATE OF GEE AT SALT LAKE CITY: 

A SISTER OP ONE OF THE MORMON HIGH PRIESTS, SHE HATING BEEN PERSONALLY 

ACQUAINTED WITH MOST OP THE MORMON LEADERS, AND LONG IN THM 

CONFIDENCE OP THE " PROPHET," B^jauAZi YOUNO- 



BY NELSON WINCH GEEEN. 



H. DAYTON, PUBLISHER 

36 HOWARD STREET. 
fRDUNAPOLTS, IND. :— ASHER 4 COMPACT. 

1859. 



S1 &7 



Ktefi:&Kt> ac«*>rding to Act of Con^r«esg, a the year 1857, ty 

CHARLES SCRIBNEF, 

Lfc the Cfeife's. Odict oi the District Court of the United States fcr the Southern Did ltd o* 

N**r Yor*. 



^0 I 3 I 5" 



J. J. Reed, Printer & Stereottper, 
43 & 45 Centre Street. 



SfftUatto?;. 



TO THE MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS OF CHRISTENDOM, 



AND PARTICULARLY TO 



M¥ COUNTRYWOMEN OF THE UNITED STATES, 



•i'HIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



PREFACE. 



The human mind is peculiarly open to the approach of reli- 
gious delusion. Man is naturally religious, but prone perhaps 
to mix with the pure gospels of a pure system, something of a 
grosser sort, and is inclined to bring the latter down, and to 
square it with his own poor humanity, when unable to. raise 
himself to the level of an exalted faith. Hence we find the suc- 
cess of these pretenders to new revelations, to be due less to 
the merit of what they teach, than to the weakness of their 
victims. 

No delusion of this character has for many centuries met 
with half the success, or achieved a position so threatening and 
formidable as has the Mormonism of our own day. And no 
Prophet among the class to which we refer, has entertained the 
ambitious and aggressive views of Brigham Young, since the 
advent of Mahomet, whose armed followers overran the fairest 
portions of the East with the irresistible argument of the " Koran 
or the sword." And it is perhaps not without reason that the 
public mind has been suddenly moved to inquire whether the 
known aims of the successor of Joseph Smith may not point to 
a similar destiny for this continent. For it is with some concern 
that we are reminded that in the early years of the hegira, the 
power and the pretensions of the Prophet of Medina, were much 
less in fact, than are those of the aspirant to divine honors at 
Salt Lake to-day. 

And while there can be but little doubt as to the result of a 
conflict, should it come to that, as between the people of the 
United States and the Saints in Utah, with all the advantages 
claimed for the latter, from their isolated position, unity of pur- 
pose and action, known enterprise, and other admitted elements 



vi Preface. 

of strength which would tell in such a contest, yet the question 
is not entirely devoid of difficulty, with reference to the line of 
policy the Government at Washington is likely to adopt, in con- 
trast with that which it is believed should be adopted. 

This Government, ranking among the first Christian powers 
of the earth, owes something to civilization and the world as 
touching the solution of this Mormon question. The assump- 
tions and errors of these " latter day Saints," are too monstrous 
and radical to pass with a mere rebuke. They should be 
crushed in the bud, if indeed they have not already passed into 
a dangerous maturity. They should be torn up root and branch, 
especially now, when the alternative is held out by the "Pro- 
phet " himself, of, " fight or fly." 

These men, who have not only set at defiance those acknow- 
ledged principles of moral ethics, which for many generations 
have bound Christendom to a common faith, and worked out for 
it a high order of civilization, but have repudiated the common 
instincts of humanity, and the common law also, should not be 
allowed, even as a compromise, to withdraw from the territory 
of the United States unpunished. 

They should be made to feel the heavy, and resistless arm of 
the public law. The iron they have meted to others, their 
defenceless victims, in disregard of law, should be made to enter 
their own souls, under the sanction of law. 

But under our peculiar form of government, undoubtedly the 
best in the world, a serious difficulty still suggests itself. The 
outrages in Utah call for an immediate remedy. Humanity, 
racked to its uttermost of endurance, cannot afford to wait the 
slow process of ordinary governmental action. We have 
already seen within a few months, an army put in motion, and 
a Governor appointed for this duty, and the advance of both 
in the end stayed, for some reason, another year. 

When we remember the high character of the present Chief 
Magistrate of the nation, there can be but little doubt that 
finally, effective and well judged measures will be taken in the 
premises; but still the question recurs, why can this not be 
done now ? 

Is it only tho voice of popular majorities that can move the 



PjRKFAOK Vii 

Government to action ? And is the voice of suffering, though 
armed with the right, not to be heard, unless it is also armed 
with might. Mast it bear the fearful, and uncertain wand of a 
balance of power, before it can reach the ear of the politician? 
Has our nationality come at last, to be but the exponent of a 
party only, and has it nothing left of a sympathy which it should 
hold in common with all Americans and Christians ? 

It is not possible that politicians are so lost in schemes of 
party plunder, as to be blind to the necessity of preserving the 
Government. 

But what need have we for delay in this matter ? Is it not 
time the question were submitted in some form to the serious 
consideration of the American people, if submitted it must be, 
before action can be had ? Can there be the differential of a 
doubt, as to what will be the result of such a submission? In- 
deed is it not already a question of public safety? Can this 
model system of government survive the shock of so many 
elements foreign to the aims and scope of its original incep- 
tion ? 

Can this people, always liberal and generous, quite up to the 
verge of safety, escape demoralization while thus trifling 
with abstractions, which involve the validity of the fundamen- 
tal law ? 

Does that "largest liberty," over which we hear the National 
pride so justly exalt itself, mean the liberty to sweep away the 
old landmarks of Christendom, and the glorious old common 
law of our fathers? Is our Bible, and the free institutions 
which have come down with, and grown up beside it, to be 
sacrificed to an extreme application of the well approved prin- 
ciples of State Eights, and popular sovereignty ? In the splen- 
did machinery of Government which has resulted from the Eevo- 
lutlon, and the exalted line of state policy which has grown up 
under it, did not our fathers bethink them of a sufficient balance 
wheel equal to the duty of guarding us against the obstructions 
which bad men and fanatics may choose to interpose to its con- 
tinued, equal, steady, and general working. 

It cannot, be supposed, that in the advance made by the 
framers of our American institutions, it was had in contempla- 



viii PREFACE. 

tion to retrograde in morals, or in Christian propriety, or to 
throw away what civilization had already gained for us. But 
the Mormon practice of polygamy, is a retrograde, and hence if 
our Constitution does not afford a remedy against these evils, 
and if, from its flexibility, it does not verify the fair promise of 
its early days, the friends of free institutions may well entertain 
apprehensions for the future of this country. 

But when we look the difficulty fearlessly in the face, the 
Gordian knot is at once unloosed, for we have in Utah a verifi- 
cation of the truth, that there is in the affairs of men, a certain 
tendency to a compensation in favor of the right, and against the 
wrong-doer, which cannot be defeated. Hence, admitting for 
the sake of the argument, that under our liberal system of 
Government, the practice of polygamy, is among the topics 
of mere local interest, and subject to the unquestioned decision 
of the state and local legislature, yet the crimes and scandals, 
that always must, and as it appears have followed in Utah the 
violation of those wholesome limitations by which the Christian 
marriage have been surrounded by a Wise Hand, are not exempt 
from the interference of the law officers of the General Govern- 
ment. But such interference will annihilate both Mormonism 
and polygamy, since it will hang all the leaders of any note con- 
cerned in these outrages. And thus we find this question easy 
of solution, requiring only a firm purpose, and. an unrelenting 
application of justice, on the part of the administrators of pub- 
lic affairs, in carrying out, in a legal manner, acknowledged 
principles of jurisprudence. 

But space will not admit of a full discussion of this important 
subject here. Trusting these pages may in some measure con- 
tribute to a timely and efficient adjustment of the Mormon dif- 
ficulties, they are now submitted to that umpirage to which an 
American is always proud to appeal, when questions of great 
and national interest are under dkcussion— to the American 
people. 

K. W. Gkeen. 

DAN3VILLE, N Y., Oct. 15M, 185T. 



OTEODU CTION. 

About tlie first of March last, the writer of this Narrative 
was first introduced to the subject of it, by a mutual friend ; 
and listened with astonishment to her extraordinary story. 
Subsequently much time was spent in weighing, sifting and com- 
paring her statements. 

Convinced by this investigation of its entire truthfulness, 
and recognizing the claim she had upon the public ear, and the 
claim to be heard in this behalf by the thousands of her sex 
still in Mormon land, the following pages have been written, 
and are now offered without apology ; albeit but little time has 
been taken to prepare for the press. 

The appearance and general state of mind of Mrs. Smith, at 
this time, was very peculiar: and not without interest as afford- 
ing evidence of her good faith. At times timid as the antelope 
of the mountains among which she has suffered so much, and 
but partially freed from the thraldom of her Mormon habits of 
life, she stood braced against all " Gentile " approach, and al- 
though she had in theory abandoned her Mormon faith, she had 
adopted no other in its place. The dread of falling into some 
new error, rendered her almost inaccessible to truth. 

On one occasion, when the Mormon belief in a plurality of gods 
was under discussion, the fact was stated, that there was but one 
God over all the universe ; she replied with unfeigned wonder, 
as if the idea was altogether new to her : 

" What ? Do you believe there is but one God ?" 

In giving to the world the following narrative, the author 
fully appreciates the importance of the fact, that its success, and 
the benefit he deems he has a right to expect may accrue from 
it to suffering humanity in Utah, will be greatly dependent 
upon the credence extended to it by the public. 

The first questions the honest reader has a right to ask, are 
these : Is it true? Are these disclosures and revelations made 
in good faith ? Are they really the actual experiences of a 
woman yet under twenty-nine years of age ? A woman edu- 
cated from childhood in the Mormon faith ; familiar with all its 
details ? One who has been a victim to its cruel hardships, and 
to its practical workings ? Has she disclosed to the world what 



£ Introduction. 

she lias actually seen, and felt, and suffered ; and nothing more ? 
Is it true, that she has been held a prisoner, in common with 
many others of her sex, for years in Utah, and that by a sin- 
gular good fortune, when hope had nearly gone out within her, 
she effected an escape ? And is it true, that to-day she exists 
as an actuality, courting investigation, and fearing nothing but 
Mormon intrigue and Mormon assassination? 

There is in simple truth an agreement and consistency, upon 
which the mind intuitively fastens, and upon which it bases its 
convictions never found in the creations of the imagination. It 
is with confidence, therefore, that we refer to the internal evi- 
dence which this narrative itself affords of its own truth. 

The circumstance that real names are given throughout the 
book, of persons who are still living and who will be likely to 
make themselves heard, if they have been misrepresented, 
should furnish another argument in favor of its reliability. 

Nothing in the following pages has been written with the 
design of feeding a morbid curiosity ; and whatever has been 
admitted of fact or form of expression, which possibly may 
have that effect, has been from necessity, and as growing 
out of the nature of the subject, and not from any want of 
respect for that delicate and even fastidious public taste which 
has ever characterized the people of this country. An earnest 
desire to subserve the public good, as regards the exposure of 
these enormities, has been the governing consideration. In fact, 
many things have been omitted, from a wish to avoid offence 
in this particular. 

"We give, in addition, an extract from an affidavit forwarded 
to the Government at Washington in answer to a communica- 
tion from the State Department relating to affairs in Utah, as 
further evidence of good faith on the part of Mrs. Smith : 

(Copy.) 

Affidavit of Mrs. Mary Ettie V. Smith, relating to certain 

matters in the Territory of Utah. 

" State of New York, ) ss 
Livingston County. \ * 

" Mary Ettie Y. Smith, late of Great Salt Lake city, in the 
itory of Utah ; and now of Stuben county, in the State of 



Introduction. xi 

v^w York, being duly sworn deposes and says : That she has 
been a resident of said Territory for about five years ; and has 
been a member of the community of Mormons for fifteen 
years : That she is at present twenty eight years of age ; that 
she was a believer in good faith in Mormonism, until she dis- 
covered, after going to Utah, the principal business of the Prophet 
Brigham Young, and the other heads of the Mormon Church 
to be the commission of crimes of the most atrocious character ; 
among which may be included robbery, murder, and treason to 
the General Government, and a large number of lesser crimes : 
and that she was held a prisoner there for a long time, against 
her wish and consent, after she had expressed a desire to re- 
turn to the TJ. S. ; and that a large number of persons, particu- 
larly women, have been, and are, as she verily believes, so held 
and restrained, and debarred of the exercise of their personal 
liberty ; and that many of these persons, were they to be assured 
of the protection of the Government, could and would give 
such evidence before a legal tribunal, as would, if such tribunal 
were unawed, and uncontrolled by the Mormons or their influ- 
ence, lead to the conviction of Brigham Young, and many, and 
probably most of the heads of the Church, of such crimes as 
are punishable by death. 

" And this deponent further says that as an illustration of the 
above, she will state, that in the year 1853, she was present 
when Brigham Young, General Wells, and John and Wiley 
"Norton, discussed and adopted a plan for the murder of Wal- 
lace Alonzo Clarke Bowman, an American citizen, at the time 
engaged in the Mexican trade, and in the quiet and legal pur- 
suit of his lawful business : and that said Bowman was so 
murdered by direction of said Erigham Young; and after 
the manner determined upon as aforesaid. That she saw and 
recognized his body after his death ; and that she cut a lock of 
said Bowman's hair after his death, and gave the same to Dr 
Hurt, at the time Indian agent of the Territory. 
' " That John Norton and James Furguson, now believed to be 
living at Salt Lake, told this deponent in the presence of vari- 
ous other persons, to wit : Jane Furguson, (wife No. 2 of said 
Furguson) and others, that they, the said Norton and Furguson 
shot the said Bowman, in Salt Creek canon : that a large 



xii Introduction. 

amount of property was taken from said Bowman, by the said 
Mormons : and that at this time, said Brigham Young, was gov- 
ernor of the said Territory of Utah. 

" That the facts above stated, with reference to the imprison- 
ment, robbery and final murder of said Bowman, can be proved 
by a large number of reliable witnesses now in Utah; and one 
besides herself now in the state of New York. That the account 
given of the same in her Narrative, now about to be published, 
is substantially true : and that among many others, the follow- 
ing persons would swear to these facts, if properly approached, 
and well assured of protection against the assassination of the 

"Danites," to wit : : and the two 

wives of and the mother of ; 

( ) and , wife of ; 

wife ISTo. 2 of : , and his 



wife, ; and others.; all living at Great Salt Lake 

City. 

" This Deponent further says, that she was present at another 
time, m the year 1851 ; when the said Brigham Young, gover- 
nor of the Territory of Utah, ' counseled,' and directed the 
robbery of a Dr. Roberts ; and that afterwards she was pre- 
sent, when the said Dr. Roberts was robbed, at night, on the 
public highway, in pursuance of the said instructions of th9 
said Prophet and Gov. Young; that said robbery was com- 
mitted by Captain James Brown, now living at Ogden city, in 
said Territory, and Hiram Clauson, of Great Salt Lake city; 
and in presence of Ellen, the wife of said Clauson, and in pres 
ence of this deponent ; and that she has good reason to fear the t 
said Roberts was afterward murdered by said Brown and Clau- 
son : that she can furnish proof of many similar crimes ; an ac- 
count of which she deems it unnecessary to give in detail at 
this time ; and further this deponent saith not." 

(Signed) 

Mary Ettif V. Smith. 

Subscribed and sworn this 21st day of Augast, 18b7, before 
me. 

Charles R. Kkr:t, 



CONTEXTS 



-«•►- 



CHAPTER I. 
My Birth and Parentage, r » It 



CHAPTER II. 
A Storm Gathering, ,28 

CHAPTER III. 
Death of the Prophet, . . . . . # . B S3 

CHAPTER IV. 
Endowments, 41 

CHAPTER V. 
The Exodus, £4 

CHAPTER VL 
A Night with the Dead and the Wolves, . . , . 65 

CHAPTER VII. 
Seeking my Mother, , 75 



dv Contents. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Page 

Among the Gentiles. .... • 83 

CHAPTER IX. 
More Wives, 89 

CHAPTER X. 
Reconciled — Finding my Mother, . . . . • : 100 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Family Broken Up, * 114 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Parting— Crossing the Tankio, 4 123 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Offer of Marriage — Setting out for " Zion, w ... 137 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Great Salt Lake City, Utah, . . ... 146 

CHAPTER XV. 
Church Polity, 150 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Reuben P. Smith's Arrival — Narrow Escape from becoming a 
" Spiritual," 167 

CHAPTER XVII. 
"Sealed" to the Butcher far Eternity— A Fearful Discovery, . J 80 



Contents. xv 

CHAPTER XYIII. 

Pago 
The Escape, 193 

CHAPTER XIX. 
My Father's Friend— Dr. Roberts, ...... 198 

CHAPTER XX. 
Preparing to Entrap an Old Man, . . . . , . 209 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Robbery and Probable Murder of Dr. Roberts, . . 221 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Sealed for Time, 234 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Intrigues of Brigham Young, 241 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
The Story of Wallace Alonzo Clark Bowman, •« • 252 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Fate of Bowman, . 264 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Mormon Jesuitism, , • 278 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
The Story of William Mac, ... . 280 



xvi Contents. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Page 

Milking a Gentile, 293 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Punishment of Heresy, * 308 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Tooille, 820 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
The Plight and Recapture, 832 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Hope, 843 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Going to the Land of my Birth, . . . < . . 851 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 
Crossing tho Webber — Perils by the Way, • 860 

CHAPTER XXXV. 
Crossing the Plains, , . 870 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 
Conclusion, • , 883 



FIFTEEN YEARS AMONG THE MORMONS 



CHAPTER I. 



MY BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. 



I 



My father, Silas Coray, was one of the four sons of John 
and Phebe Coray of Providence township, Luzern county, 
Pennsylvania. My grandfather, John Coray, was accidentally 
shot by one of his neighbors, and a few years after, my grand- 
mother married James Abbott, and moved to Allegany 
county, New York, near Arkport. It was but a short time 
after this event that my father married Mary Stephens, the 
daughter of Uriah Stephens, a revolutionary pensioner, and one 
of the six original proprietors of the township of Canisteo, 
now a part of Steuben county. My parents lived here until after 
the birth of their first two children, and then moved to Penn- 
sylvania, to occupy the farm my grandfather had left them ; 
but soon returned to New York. His three brothers, John,* 
David, and Ira, occupied in common the balance of my > 
grandfather's land in Pennsylvania, and by their solicitation, 

* One of these brothers, my uncle John, is now livir.g with a 
numerous and respectable family in the town of Burns, Allegany 

IT 



18 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

my father, about this time, purchased the whole property of 
them, and moved his family onto the old homestead ; where 
had he lived contentedly, he wo ild have saved his family 
from being scattered, and falling victims to a most fatal and 
cruel delusion. It was at this place, Providence, Luzern 
cour.ty, Pennsylvania, I was born, January 31, 1829. 

My father at this time owned over seven hundred acres 
of coal land, which has since proved to be very valua 
ble. 

T7hen I was ten years of age he sold this fine property 
and removed with his family to Perry, Pike county, Illinois ; 
wheve he bought a large tract of land, and soon after, while 
in the height of his various objects of enterprise, was killed 
accidentally while drawing a log to a saw-mill ; leaving his 
business in a very unsettled condition, and my mother with 
nine children then living, two of whom were younger than 
myself, named as follows : Aurilla, Sarah Ann, Phebe, 
Hovard, George, William, Mary Ettie V., Uriah, and Harriet 
Elizabeth. 

At the death of my father, began that terrible e^Jes of 
misfortunes, a history of which will form the subject-matter 
of the following pages. My father's death occurred in Janu- 
ary, 1841. 

county, New York. Many members of my mother's family, tna 
Stephens, are yet living in Canisteo, and other parts of Steuben 
coun.y, New York; and I have many cousins in Pennsylvania, now 
living. Col. John R. Stephens, my mother's brother, lives upoc 
his estate near Hornellsville, New York ; and is well known m that 
section of the country. 



My Birth and Parentage. 19 

About this time a Mormon Elder, who had been holding 
meetings in this neighborhood, called upon my mother, anc. 
among other things, told her that the Latter Day Saints 
claimed to be able to heal the sick, and that if she would 
consent to be baptized, the deafness with which she was 
afflicted, and which had become a great annoyance to her, 
would in a very shortj^ime be removed ; and she would hear 
a^ain. 

Willing at least to try the experiment, she was baptized. 
The water was very cold, and immediately after her hearing 
was improved, and soon, it was entirely restored. I feel it my 
duty to do my mother the justice of stating this very 
remarkable circumstance, which was the real foundation of 
her conversion to Mormonistn, and of her implicit faith in 
Joseph Smith, as a Prophet of God ; a faith that was never 
shaken until, years after, she found herself shut up in Utah, a 
prisoner, and an unwilling witness of abominations which 
in the States had been- disguised. 

Mv mother, who is still living, now understands, that per 
haps this apparent miracle, was the effect of cold water, or 
of some other natural though unexplained cause; but at 
that time, it had with her all the force of a real miracle. It 
was the voice of God through His Prophet, which she dare 
not disregard ; and accordingly she removed -at once to 
Nauvoo, where the Mormons had just laid the foundation for 
the Temple, taking seven of her children ; two of my sisters, 
having husbands, did not accompany her. 

Her entire property, and all papers relating to my father's 
business, were placed in the hands of Stephen Abbott, a half- 



20 Fifteen Teaks among the Mormons. 

brother of ray father who had been previously converted to 
Mormonisin. 

This was the last trace, or account, or benefit my mother, 
or any one of our family, ever received of this valuable pro- 
perty, except a small amount of our personal effects, taken 
with us at the time, which probably went into the hands of 
Joseph Smith, and was absorbed in the common stock. It 
was probably a part of the large sum afterwards expended 
upon the Temple at JSTauvoo. 

It may appear strange, that my mother so readily gave up 
her property into -the hands of her new friends; but we have 
already seen that they had, by a pretended miracle, restored 
her to hearing ; and thus, in a double sense, they had ol tained 
a "hearing" and she readily received as infallible, the doc- 
trine of the "immediate second coming of Christ;" and 
hence, it looked reasonable to her, wlien they said she 
would no longer need her property. She had, however, been 
at Nauvoo but a few months, before she saw the absurdity 
of this summary disposal of her worldly goods, and returned 
to Pike county to look after it ; but found it sold and occu-* 
pied by strangers, and out of her reach. She returned to 
Nauvoo, to make the best of her new religion. 

I recollect that I was baptized into the new faith, as 
were all my brothers and sisters, except my two married sis- 
ters, who did not accompany us, and Howard, my second 
brother, who was a ready penman, soon became a great favo- 
rite with Joseph Smith, the Prophet; with whom he spent 
most of his time as his clerk, and so continued until his 
death, and afterwards wrote for Brigham Young, and is thus 



My Birth and Parentage. 21 

employed now for the latter, at Great Salt Lake City. 
Howard is the author of an history of the Smith family, 
unfinished at the deatli of the Prophet, but since published 

I had been baptized by the direction of Joseph Smith, at 
eleven years of age ; and my mother left me temporarily with 
my brother Howard, through whom all our family were con- 
trolled by the Prophet. It was by the advice of the latter that 
Howard had been married to Martha Jane Knowlton. Some 
of our neighbors, about this time, began to say that I was old 
enough to be married. I was but thirteen years of age, and 
this greatly frightened me, as I verily believed there would be 
no escape from the will of the Prophet, if he should direct me 
to marry — a thing not unlikely to happen, for he was in the 
habit of doing thus with others, when he found they were 
at the age of puberty ; and to refuse would be at the sacri- 
fice of my own salvation, unless I could afterwards obtain his 
pardon. 

Every effort was made by the Mormons, apparently with- 
out the knowledge of the Prophet, to induce my brother to 
effect a marriage for me, by the offer to him of various pre- 
sents and other inducements tendered by those who wished to 
marry me. But he paid but little attention to them, as he 
had hoped to win higher honors through my marriage. He 
had conceived the idea of marrying me to one of the Twelve 
Apostles, as soon as I was old enough to be a mother. 

I believed in Mormonism, for I knew no other religion, but 
I preferred not to marry an old man, but chose to have a 
husband of my own age, and of my own choice, if I must 
have one. The Prophet, Smith, had not yet " counselled * 



22 .Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

me to get married, and I concluded, if an opportunity offered 
I should surely take the advantage of "Brother Joseph/' and 
run the risk of being forgiven by him. 

My sister Sarah had married a Mr. Griffin, and was then 
living at Nauvoo, both herself and husband having been con- 
verted to Mormonism by the apparent miracle of the cure 
of my mother's deafness. * 

My sister, who knew what efforts had been made to effect 
my marriage, became uneasy, and sent for me to come to 
her house ; and I accordingly went, and told her how 
matters stood ; and, among other things, a brother Gully 
had strongly pressed his matrimonial claims upon my atten- 
tion. I cried that night till I was quite sick. 

My sister told me, if I would not betray her to the Church, 
she would undertake to find a husband for me, suitable to 
my age, when I was old enough ; but that 1 was too young 
now, and that no man should have me for a wife yet, if she 
could prevent it ; that I must go down and ask Howard if I 
could come and stay at her house until her husband returned, 
who was at the time absent in Iowa with his brother Henry 
The latter, who now lives at Scranton, Pennsylvania, knew 
and must recollect most of the facts I am now relating 
To this. Howard consented after some delay, and raisin <r 
various objections ; and much elated at my success in escaping 
for the time the annoyance of old men looking for young wives, 
I went to her house, where I remained for several weeks. 

One day my sister said to me, "Nettie, quite an interesting 
young fellow has been boarding with us, and if you were 
two or three years older, you should marry him/' I replied, 



My Birth and Parentage. 23 

that perhaps I could not get him. " Is he old enough to be 
my grandfather?" "Xo, he is not over twenty-four years of 
age, and is good looking." 

I said, " Sarah, when he comes, if he suits me, or comes 
near to it, I shall try to make him marry me, for fear I shall 
be ' counselled ' by Joseph to marry some man who has a 
wife already, for T can never consent to have a husband in 
partnership."* 

" Nettie," said Sarah, " if this Mormonism is true, we shall 
be very sorry if we say much against it ; but still I must 
acknowledge that such a doctrine, if practised much, will 
cause the women a great deal of sorrow, and add nothing to 
the happiness of the men." 

" I am sure," said I, " they will not enjoy their spirituals 
over much if they are all like me ; I will not tolerate it." 

My cousin Emily came in just then, and said, " Nettie, 
what is the matter ? but first come and see my beau ;" and 
going to the window, we saw an old grey-headed man hob- 
bling along— one of the young girl hunters. My cousin was 
about my own age. She told me her mother wished her to 
marry Mr. Brown,f her mother's husband, who was a very 
wealthy old gentleman. When I asked her if she intended 
to do so, she replied she would not if she could help it, and 

* Even at this early day, it was understood among us, that spirit* 
ual wifeism was practised by the Heads of the Church in secret 
although it was stoutly denied when questioned by the Gentiles. 

t This is the celebrated Captain James Brown, afterwards referred 
to in this narrative, who was concerned in the robbery and probable 
murder of Dr. Roberts, near Ogden City, Utah. 



24 Fifteen Years among the Mcemons. 

asked me to go into the other room : and we had but just 
seated ourselves, to talk over our mutual troubles, when some 
one knocked at the front door, for whom my sister opened 
it, and said, " Good evening, Wallace," and some one re- 
plied, " Good evening ; I heard Nettie, as you call her, was 
here." Saran told him I was in the other room. 

When I heard his voice I was very much excited, noticing 
which, Emily said, " Nettie, what is the matter ?" This was 
heard by Wallace, whereupon he came into the room, accom- 
panied by my sister, and without an introduction, said, "Net- 
tie, I am sorry you are not well ; I anticipated having a fine 
talk with you this evening. I have heard the old men talk 
ing so much about you and Emily, that I have come to the 
conclusion you are worth looking after." 

" That old man, Brown," said Emily, " is not satisfied with 
having my mother, but is determined to add me to the num- 
ber of his wives, which I am bent upon preventing if possible," 
and she left the room apparently very much excited. 

The case of my cousin, and that of many others which 
daily came under my observation, made a deep impression 
upon me, and had probably no small influence upon the step 
I was about to take. 

Wallace Henderson, with whom I was now left alone m 
my sister's parlor, was five feet ten inches high, had dark 
brown hair, large black eyes, a high forehead, and dark red 
whiskers, and a verv agreeable address, and on this occasion 
exerted himself to interest me. He was upon the whole a 
fine looking boy. 

He talked to me of Mormonism, saying it was true ' that 



My Birth and Parentage. 25 

the spiritual wife doctrine was true and perfectly right ; but 
that he could never enjoy himself among a crowd of brawling 
women and noisy children, but said those who can were the 
ones to practice it. 

I then said to him, you really do not think you could 
&ncy such a life, Wallace ? To which he replied, " I should 
Se satisfied to get one like you, Nettie." 

At this point of our conversation, I heard my brother Wil- 
liam inquiring of Sarah for me, and being told where I was, 
he called me out, and said, 

" Nettie, I do not want you to have any private conversa- 
tion with that fellow, or with any other man, without Brother 
Joseph's permission. He is a stranger to you, and how dare 
you act thus, after hearing as much as you have about the 
necessity of marrying a man that can ' exalt' you in the 
eternal world ? How can you think of having private con- 
versation with this trifling scamp, who would not scruple to 
deceive you, although you think him good looking ?" 

I replied, " William, I think I can understand why you 
are giving me this scolding ; it opens up to me a clear view of 
the whole case. You are expecting me to go into the family 
of one of the ' Twelve Apostles.' Is that it ?" 

" I can tell you this much," said William, " I have made 
arrangements with Joseph Smith for your eternal salvation ; 
and you must not deprive yourself of the honor of being tfoe 
wife of one of the i Twelve :' " and he said, " come,- put* on 
your bonnet, and go home to Howard's*" 

Sarah, who had listened to all this, said at last, " William*, 
Nettie is too young to be tormented in this way. It is 

2 



26 Fifteen Years among tee Mormcns. 

ridiculous. She is just as well with me as with Howard or 
with you." 

" No, she is not," said William ; " she must not be indulged 
in such wicked and jealous principles as you encourage her 
in." 

I submitted, and went with my brother to Howard's, to 
whom I said, "I am a great trouble to my very religious 
friends, and a very singular religion I think yours is, too." I 
went up stairs, and after having a cry over the matter, made 
up my mind to marry some single man as soon as an oppor- 
tunity offered : and that I would marry Wallace Henderson 
if ho was in earnest in the encouragement he had given me. 

My brother William was gathering wood fur Joseph Smith 
m an island in the Mississippi, and having several men in 
his charge, was obliged to be absent during the day, and I 
wa? left at Howard's. 

When he left he said, " Nettie, you must stay here until I 
come back," I made him no promises ; whereupon Howard, 
who did not justify fully his course in regard to me, said, 

" William, you are a tyrant, and you act sillily. She is not 
going to be deprived of seeing Sarah." 

After William had left, I told Howard I was going to 
Sarah's, and he suffered me to do so. 

When I arrived there I found Wallace, who appeared glad 
to eee me, and to whom I told everything ; and then he asked 
me If I would marry so young, and -before my mother re- 
turned. I told him I would, if I could marry a man that 
was single, but that I could never endure the spiritual wife 
doctrine. 



My Birth and Parentage. 27 

M Nettie," said Wallace, " I love, and will marry you to- 
night, if you are willing. Do you consent J" I did consent, 
and he kissed me and left, saying he would soon bring some 
one to marry us. 

I told Sarah what I had done, and she did not object, but 
sat down and gave me much good advice ; and soon Wallace 
came in with Judge Higbee, who married us, January 30, 
1843. The day after our wedding I was fourteen years old. 
My brothers, Howard and William, were so enraged, they did 
not speak to me for a long time. Although I had married to 
escape a worse fate,, from a sort of necessity, I was very 
happy, for I soon learned to love my husband, and we should 
have lived pleasantly, and did, until the spiritual wifeism 
afterwards stepped between us with its blighting curse 



28 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 



CHAPTER II. 



A STORM GATHERING. 



I was married in the winter of 1843. At about this time 
various causes conspired to embarrass and complicate the re- 
lation of the Mormons with " the rest of mankind," termed by 
them " Gentiles." It was well known to me, although young 
at the time, as it was to every Mormon at Nauvoo, that great 
numbers of cattle and hogs were in the habit of wandering 
from the surrounding country into the city, and were appro- 
priated by the Saints ; and the same with other property that 
could be concealed. Another thing that increased the preju- 
dice against our community, was the great amount of bogus 
money afloat about that time, and in some cases traced 
directly to the Mormons. It so happened that while at Nau- 
voo, and afterwards, I had an opportunity to know something 
:>f this bogus manufacture. 

When we were on the route through Iowa, it occurred, 
that one day, when one of the wagons was upset, the press 
for making bogus money rolled into sight, and was seen by 
many Mormons, who till then had not supposed they were 
one of a gang of counterfeiters. But there is no doubt 
about the fact that the business of counterfeiting was carried 



A Storm Gathering. 29 

on extensively, aid that too under the personal sanction and 
blessing of the Prophet Joseph, and of the Twelve. Most of 
these Twelve Apostles are now living at Salt Lake, and the 
same is true to day there, although tot done openly, and 
justified as is the spiritual wife practice. Even this was 
denied at Nauvoo to the Gentiles, while it was taught us 
under the ban of secrecy. One thing is certain; this bogus 
press was carried, to my certain knowledge, to Salt Lake, 
and there is now a man living in Allegany county, by 
the name of Lewis Wood, w T ho saw it between Nauvoo and 
Council Bluffs. 

It was about this time that Governor Boggs, of Missouri, 
was shot at St. Louis. It appears the Governor had offended 
the Mormons very much when the latter were driven from 
that State in 1838, and I recollect hearing the Prophet say 
on the stand, that the man w r ho had shot Governor Boggs 
would have a crown immortal, and it was understood at the 
time, that 0. Porter Rockwell was the person referred to by 
Joseph. 

This 0. P. Rockwell is now living at Salt Lake, distin- 
guished by other similar acts, but it was this that first 
brought him into notice among the Mormons. He was after 
this known as the chief of the u Danites," a corps of men set 
apart for such assassinations. In this case Governor Boggs 
was shot from the outside, through a window ; but by good 
ortune not killed. Another source of revenue at this time 
was robbing, and "putting aside" strangers who were driv- 
ing cattle to the eastern market, or to the northern settle- 
ments. Numerous cases of this kind came to my knowledge 



30 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

after my marriage, in which I knew my husband was 
engaged ; some of which the reader will find hereafter nar- 
rated. 

These cattle, before we left Nauvoo, were slaughtered, and 
salted to avoid detection, but afterwards, when stolen on the 
road to the plains, they were put into the teams, or used as 
necessity required. This cattle stealing was known and coun- 
selled by the Prophet. Although at that time I believed 
him to be a Prophet of God, I now believe he was every way 
unworthy to be received as such. 

To discourage inconvenient scrutiny from visitors at Nau- 
voo, the Mormons had a custom in vomie anion o- them called 
" whistling and whittling Gentiles out of town," which was 
done after this wise. 

A company of young men and boys would surround the 
Gentile who evinced too great a thirst for curious knowledge, 
and with the greatest gravity whistle in concert, and whittle 
in careless proximity to his person, following him from place 
to place, until, annoyed beyond measure, he was glad to 
escape from the " City of Beauty." 

I have often seen this ; and after such an exhibition of 
zeal by the boys, some of the old men of the Church would 
encourage them by presents, and promises of heaven, telling 
them the time would come when it would be lawful to not 
only whittle at, but to whittle into the Gentiles in earnest; 
and the blood-thirsty spirit thus engendered among those 
boys now exhibits itself in Utah, among the same ones, now 
grown to be men, by their readiness to shed the blood of 
the Gentiles at the command of the new Prophet. >' 



A Storm Gathering. 31 

The ieason giveu the boys for this " whittling out of town w 

was, that since the wicked were always liable to be punished, 

if the " Gentiles " (i. e. the wicked) were allowed to remain 

in the town, the righteous (Mormons) were liable to be pun- 

hed with them. 

A circumstance occurred about this time, which served to 
scandalize the Church among the Gentiles, and create dissen- 
sion among the Mormons, and threatened at one time to dis- 
member the Church. 

Orson Pratt, then, as now, one of the " Twelve," was sent 
by Joseph Smith on a mission to England. During his ab- 
sence, his first (i. e. his lawful) wife, Sarah, occupied a house 
owned by John C. Bennett, a man of some note, and at that 
time, quartermaster-general of the Nauvoo Legion. Sarah 
was an educated woman, of fine accomplishments, and at- 
tracted the attention of the Prophet Joseph, who called upon 
her one day, and alleged he found John C. Bennett in bee 1 
with her. As we lived but across the street from her house, 
we saw and heard the whole uproar. Sarah ordered the 
Prophet out of the house, and the Prophet used obscene lan- 
guage to her. 

When brother Orson returned a short time after this, and 
heard the story, he believed his wife rather than the Prophet, 
and charged the latter with lying. They were both arraigned 
before the Church, and tried; the husband for "disputing w 
the Prophet, and the wife for adultery ; and both were cut 
off. The thing grew serious. Pratt was an apostle, and one 
of the best writers, as well as the best educated man, in the 
Church. Bennett left Nauvoo, and has never been identified 



32 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

with the "saints" since. Pratt also left, but by the following 
arrangement returned to the bosom of the Church, and to the 
favor of the Prophet. He, with his wife, were re-baptized for 
the remission of their mutual sin, and the Prophet was ap- 
peased. Pratt has ever since been one of the pillars of the 
Church, and at that time would have been an irreparable 
loss to it. 

He had then four wives, but his attachment to his first 
wife, Sarah, appears to have triumphed over his disgust at 
her loss of virtue. It is said he very nearly went mad with 
the trouble growing out of this affair. He afterwards edited 
a Mormon paper at Washington, known as the " Seer ;" and 
by his glowing descriptions of Utah, has deluded many of 
the victims of Mormonism to that moral pest-house, who 
would now gladly escape. 



Dkath of the Prophet. 38 



CHAPTER III. 

DEATH OF THE PROPHET. 

Various causes conspired to increase the storm to such a 
degree that it finally resulted in the death of Joseph Smith. 

Some of these have been referred to in the last chapter ; 
but, probably, the most dangerous element of discord, threat 
ening as it did the internal peace of the Church, grew out of 
the spiritual wife doctrine ; and as some misapprehension as 
to its origin appears to have obtained currency among the 
" Gentiles," I deem it proper to state what I know of it. 

It has been stated, and generally believed, that this doc- 
trine was first communicated by revelation to Sidney Rigdon. 
This is untrue, and has grown into public belief from state- 
ments of Smith himself, who denied the existence of such a 
doctrine, when questioned by the Gentiles during his life, 
even while he was in its practice. In fact, he excommuni- 
cated many of his followers who practised it indiscreetly, his 
brother William among others ; and, in order to confine it 
within controllable limits, and to avoid public scandal, he re- 
stricted its practice to the highest dignitaries of the Church; 
and it was never understood to be a thing of indiscrimi- 
nate and open practice until after the Mormons crossed the 

2* 



34 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Missouri, en route to the far West. This doctrine was re- 
vealed under circumstances of extraordinary import to Joseph 
Smith, as the " only Prophet of God," and was written out 
at length at the time, and the original writing is now " kept 
in state" at Salt Lake, and in the personal custody of a 
member of the Grand Presidency, Heber C. Kimble. 

This remarkable document, which has so boldly attempted 
to rob civilization of her highest achievement, i. e. the right 
of woman to one whole and undivided husband, is said to 
contain many other radical changes; things which, even 
among Mormons, it is yet unlawful to whisper ; but, when 
the " sword of the Prophet shall be the law of the world/' a 
day which some Mormons now living hope to see, these mys- 
terious revelations shall be unloosed to " bless " the Mormon 
world. 

The Prophet appears to have encountered an unrelenting 
opponent in his first and lawful wife, Emma, who discovered 
by accident this document, and finding it contained new doc- 
trines which threatened to interfere with her domestic rights, 
attempted to destroy it; but the Mormons claim she was 
miraculously prevented, and the oracle is still preserved. 

Emma attempted, as a last resort, to poison the Prophet, 
and though she failed in that, she soon found sympathy and 
support among the disaffected within the Church. 

The Prophet had sent some time before this, three men, 
Law, Foster and Jacobs, on missions, and they had just re- 
turned, and found their wives blushing under the prospective 
honors of spiritual wifeism ; and another woman, Mrs. Buei, 
had left her husband, a Gentile, to grace the Prophet's retinue 



Death of the Prophet. 35 

on hDrseback, when he reviewed the Nauvoo Legion. I 
heard the latter woman say afterwards in Utah, that she did 
not know whether Mr. Buel or the Prophet was the father of 
her son. These men established a press in Nauvoo, to ex- 
pose his alleged vicious teachings and practices, which 
a revelation from Joseph destroyed. The press was thrown 
into the street, and the material scattered. 

This provoked a conflict with law officers of the State. 
Sheriffs and constables searched the city for the Prophet, 
and Hiram, and others of the leading ones, but for a long 
time they evaded them. The Prophet fled across the Missis- 
sippi, to Iowa, and took refuge with the Indians. 

A circumstance occurred in the midst of the excitement, 
which I think was not rightly understod by the Gentiles. 

A sheriff in pursuit of the Prophet, whose name I do 
not now recollect, was murdered by the Mormons, and 
thrown into the Mississippi. His friends supposed he had 
been drowned accidentally, for this was the story circulated 
by those who murdered him. Things were assuming a bad 
shape. The Prophet's wife Emma, stirred up the people by 
the story that the Prophet was a coward, and had forsaken 
his people. 

Historians of these events tell us that the Governor of 
Illinois persuaded Joseph Smith, and his principal Apostles 
to surrender themselves to the law officers, and tendered t 
hem his official protection. But there is always an under- 
urrent in history, a knowledge of which is necessary to a 
»ght-estimate of the facts, which is only to be found in the do- 
\estic lives of the great actors upon the stage of life. Emma, 



36 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

who wished to destroy the Prophet, wrote to him reproach 
fully, for his cowardice ; and denouncing him as an impostor, 
and asked him to give a proof of his mission, by facing the 
enemies of the church. 

This had the effect she had expected and desired. The 
Prophet returned to Nauvoo, and was arrested, with his 
brother Hiram, John Taylor, Willard Richards and others, 
and all were lodged in Carthage jail. 

But the excitement among the Gentiles was at its height. 
The idea had obtained credit, that the Governor would pro- 
tect the Prophet, and screen him from justice. A mob 
gathered at Carthage, on the 27th of June, 1844, and took the 
matter into their own hands. John Taylor, late editor of the 
"Mormon," a paper published in New York city, escaped 
with a slight wound ; his watch having intercepted a ball, 
which otherwise must have passed through his body. Ho 
gave us a detailed account of the end of the Prophet. 

He said Hiram fell dead at the first shot from the mob, 
through the window ; Joseph, who was sitting upon the win- 
dow-sill, received a shot which wounded him, may be mor- 
tally. He then turned quickly to Hiram, and seeing he was 
dead, exclaimed, " My Lord, my God, have mercy upon us, if 
th@re is any God ;" and fell out of the window, where he was 
soon riddled with balls. 

When the dead bodies arrived at Nauvoo, the spiritual 
wives of the late prophet, before unknown with certainty, 
now disclosed by cries, and a general uproar, their secret ac- 
ceptance of the new doctrine. One af them, Olive Frost? 
went entirely mad ; but his own wife Emma, appeared re- 



Death of the Prophet. 87 

markably resigned. She afterwards married a Gentile, and 
disavowed Mormonism. 

The bodies of the Smiths were brought to Nauvoo, and 
buried in the cellar of Joseph's house, although the ceremony 
of burying their empty coffins was performed at the 
" grave." The death of the prophet was a terrible blow ; 
and the problem whether the Church would be annihilated 
by it, or not, was destined to turn upon that of a choice 
of a successor, to which there were many aspirants. Wil- 
liam Smith, the only surviving brother of the dead Pro- 
phet, founded a strong claim upon the fact of his being the 
next of kin ; Lyman White, Gladden Bishop, James Strang, 
John E. Page, Sidney Rigdon, and many others were candi- 
dates. 

Brigham Young, already a rising man among the adhe- 
rents of the new faith, was absent upon a "mission" at the 

« 
time ;- but his return was daily expected. He was President 

of the u Quorum of Apostles," and next to the Prophet, had 
been perhaps the most popular of the leaders, with the peo- 
ple. It has been stated, and generally believed, that Brigham 
Young was elected Prophet, and Head of the Church, by the 
college of Apostles. This is not true. Although that body 
undoubtedly favored the elevation of the President of their 
quorum, they had no such power invested in them. The 
election of all officers in the Church, from the Prophet down 
to the lowest, is a question to be submitted to the whole 
body of the people. Sidney Rigdon was making a strong 
effort to get a special convention, hoping thereby to secure 
his election before the ret irn of Brigham Young ; and in 



38 Fifteen Years among turn Mormons 

fact succeeded in getting it called. The people had assem- 
bled upon a day fixed for that purpose. In those days, the 
advent of a steamboat on the Mississippi was always an 
event. One had been anxiously expected for several days, 
which it was hoped would bring-" Brother Brigham." After 
the convention had been organized, most of the candidates 
presented their claims by a personal address ; and the last 
speaker, Sidney Rigdon, had risen to address the excited as- 
sembly, and was risking everything upon a strong, last appeal 
to the people, in his own behalf, who were now about to 
decide whether he (Rigdon) should be a Prophet, and a 
Mormon, or an apostate. 

He had nearly finished, and the friends of Brigham Young 
were wild with vexation, for Rigdon was evidently gaining 
upon the popular feeling. Just then the cry came up from 
the river, that a boat was in sight, and when it arrived, 
Brigham proved to be on board. When on shore, he came 
at once to the convention, and advanced to the stand, with 
the air of a prophet, and the lofty bearing of one who bore 
in his person the fortunes of an empire. He was at that 
time under forty years of age, with a handsome and pleasing 
face, and an open and frank address ; he possessed the rare 
faculty of inspiring enthusiasm in others, without allowing it 
to overpower himself. 

By a short and well-timed speech, in which he referred 
feelingly to the dead Prophet, he frankly presented his claims 
to the succession. The effect was instantaneous, and perma- 
nent. He was elected President of the Church of Latter Day 
Saints, and a Prophet of God ; and from that day to this, has 



Death of the Prophet. 39 

ruled the Church with an untrammelled absoluteness, un- 
known to any other human government. This will appear 
the more remarkable when we state that he is, with all other 
officers of the Church, liable to be removed twice each year ; 
i.e. the 6th of April and October; when each are reelected, 
or others in their stead, when disaffection exists as to any- 
one of them ; the whole being governed by the voice of the 
people. A perfect democracy in its original sense. 

The defeat of Kio;don and Strang ended their belief in 
Mormonism, and each went off to found a new order upon 
their own hook ; as did also most of the other defeated can- 
didates. Success has however attended the lead of none 
but Brigham Young, who was followed by all those whose 
orthodoxy was then undoubted. 

The new Prophet declared openly in favor of the spiritual 
wife dogma, as soon as he could do so safely, which formed 
the first great feature of his administration. His energy and 
personal influence soon infused new life within the Church, 
and served to calm the opposition from without. His 
fair beginning promised a peaceable and successful future, 
but the schismatics who had left, and who were for the most 
part opposed to the new doctrine, were fanning anew the 
fires of persecution among the Gentiles. The Mormons were 
soon convinced that the coming storm, the inutterings of 
which they heard in the distance, would render necessary 
another remove, and it was reluctantly decided to make a 
final exodus to the great West — to seek a home among the 
rocks and mountains in the heart of the great plains, west of 
the Mississippi. 



40 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

It was now early spring, and every preparation was made 
that promised to expedite this migration. A crop was 
planted with a view to removal immediately after the har- 
vest; and seeds gathered for future planting in other soils. 
The great Temple was yet unfinished, but a prediction of the 
dead Prophet had foretold its completion, and the utmost 
exertion was made to effect its verification before the coming 
fall ; and this, under the energetic leadership of Brigham 
Young, was fully accomplished, even to the last ornament. 
But another and stronger motive impelled to the finishing 
of the Temple. The late apostasies from Mormonism had 
shown the necessity of some stronger tie than mere religious 
zeal to bind the saints together. 

Since the Heads of the Church had left Kirtland, Ohio, 
they had possessed no Temple, with "upper rooms'' of the 
required sanctity and seclusion, in which to celebrate the 
dark and mysterious rites of the " endowment" and every 
effort was made to finish the Temple for the observance of 
these ceremonies, before the final exodus 



Endowments. 41 



CHAPTER IV. 

ENDOWMENTS. 

Br early winter, the " upper rooms " of the Temple, set 
apart for the mysteries of the Endowments were finished, 
and the persons in the different quorums accounted worthy, 
were sent for, to receive the "fullness of that blessing." 

None but those of approved integrity, and of undoubted 
orthodoxy, who have paid their "tithing," can travel this 
"Mormon road to Heaven," as it is called. This " tithing," 
in its fullest sense, implies a tenth of all one's property 
and income, and one-tenth of the time to be spent in labor 
on the public works, or money to hire a substitute. 

There are many things about these initiations which I do 
not feel at liberty to disclose, as I have received them as 
religious mysteries, at a time I believed they were true — 
when I knew no other religion. Indeed, my whole know- 
ledge of religion, until within a few months, has been associ- 
ated with these ceremonies, as opening the only road to 
heaven. They have taught me to believe my chief duties 
as a woman, in this life, consisted in having a great many 
children ; and my prospect for happiness and " exaltation " 
in the next world, to be greatly enhanced, by being one of 



42 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

many fruitful wives of one man ; and that even my salvatioi* 
depended upon the pleasure of the Prophet, or on that of a 
spiritual husband, and I had never heard a true account of 
that beautiful story of a free salvation through Christ, of 
which I am now anxious to know more. 

Tho°« things in the following ceremonies, w T hich I have 
neglected to disclose, are such as, while they would only 
gratify the morbid curiosity of some readers, and offend the 
good taste of others, are forever sealed within ray own breast 
by a solemn obligation of secrecy, and must so remain until 
I can see how their disclosure can contribute to the public 
good : a reason for silence on those points, which all con- 
scientious people will, I think, duly appreciate ; and yet I 
am free to acknowledge, that I have had some difficulty in 
settling with my conscience the exact point at which my dis- 
closures should end ; »and the difficulty has not been lessened 
by the instruction and advice kindly given me by several dis- 
tinguished ministers of the Gospel, that I ought to feel 
myself at liberty to make an unreserved disclosure of the 
whole matter. I have, however, thought it safest to give my 
conscience the benefit of the doubt, where there has been 
any question as to what I ought to do ; and hence the follow- 
ing is all I have to disclose upon this part of Mormonism at 
present : 

My husband, who was a member of the fourth " Quorum 
of Seventies," and myself, were called to the Temple to re- 
ceive our " Endowments." 

We ascended the first stair, at the head of which Brigham 
Young met us. H* took me by both hands, and led me to a 



Endowments. 43 

door at tl e left, and whispering in my ear a pass-word, left 
me to go in, and afterwards did the same with my husband, 
who was directed to enter a door at the right. 

The room I had entered was nearly filled with women : nc 
men were in this room ; and no women were in the room at 
the right, where Wallace had entered. Here we were un- 
dressed and washed in a large tub of warm water, by a woman 
who is " ordained " to that office, and then anointed with 
" consecrated oil," by another woman, also " ordained n for 
that particular duty. 

Two high priests were in an adjoining room, consecrating 
this oil, and handing the same into both rooms as it was 
needed, which was poured from a horn over our heads, and a 
lengthy prayer was then said over us. Every part of the 
body being in turn the special subject of this prayer, that we 
might become as little children, even as Adam and Eve were 
when placed in the Garden of Eden, and many other matters 
of a similar bearing, which I cannot now recollect, although 
I witnessed the ceremony many times afterwards. 

We were then dressed with a white night-gown and skirt, 
and shoes of bleached drilling, and with our hair loose and 
dripping with consecrated oil, each received a new name, and 
were instructed that we were never to pronounce this name 
on earth but once : and that, when we came to enter within 
the u Veil," hereafter descrbed. 

The same process is gone through with in the men's wash- 
ing-room, except that they wore nothing but shirt and draw- 
ers, and when all was ready in both rooms, each party was 
piloted by one of the : r own sex into a common room, fitted 



44 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

up to represent, and called the Garden of Eden. On this 
occasion there were about forty persons of both sexes. The 
room into which we were taken was very large, the walls 
were hung with white muslin, and was fitted up with boxes, 
containing a great variety of trees, designed to represent the 
Garden of Eden. All the trees were in life, and presented a 
very fine appearance, and we were marched round the room 
among them in slow and solemn procession. 

It is required that each candidate be perfectly clean in 
dress and person, and a filthy thing is here regarded an 
abomination. 

A circumstance happened at this initiation which will 
illustrate how readily propriety is sacrificed to their ideas of 
orthodoxy. It appears that a large Irishman, who, though a 
good Mormon, had not lost his native propensity to " bulls," 
had come into the wash-room for his " Endowments," either 
thoughtlessly or ignorantly, with shirt and drawers not over 
clean. He had, however, put on a clean " dickey," but this 
would not pass after his anointing, and being the last one 
washed, and the procession ready to move into the Garden 
of Eden, he threw on his clean dickey, and marched in and 
received, to use his own words, " Me Enduments, with nary 
an onclane rag abute me," having on, in fact, nothing but his 
dickey. 

But to continue. The first thing we saw in the centre of 
the " Garden " was the " devil," dressed in black muslin, in 
conversation with " Eve," the latter being tempted to partake 
of the forbidden "/rwi7," to which she finally yielded. Eve 
then went to Adam, with an offer of the " fruit," who, after 



Endowments. 45 

much resistance, " he likewise fell ;" whereupon the u Lord n 
came into the " Garden," with a glittering white robe, be- 
spangled with every kind of brilliants that could send back a 
flash of light, from whose face Adam, and Eve, and the 
" Tempter " fled away hiding among the trees ; but finally 
the first two confessed their " crime," and the " Lord " pro- 
nounced a curse upon taem and upon their race, copied from 
Genesis, and the devil crawled out of sight upon his face. 
The Lord then put aprons upon Adam and Eve, and upon us 
all, made of white linen, illustrated by means of green silk, 
to represent fig-leaves. We were then led out again, each 
to our respective rooms, and thus ended the " first glory." 

I deem it proper, and a duty I owe my sex, to hand down 
to infamy the names of the women I have seen not only then, 
but since, represent " Eve r in the " Garden of Eden," the 
more so, because the persons whose names I am about to 
mention appear to have performed it willingly and with 
" pleasure." 

Eliza Snow, who was one of the wives of the Prophet 
Joseph, and now a wife of Brigham Young " for time," as 
it is termed, which means she will be Joseph's wife again in 
heaven, performed this part more than any other woman. 
Now at fifty years of age, she is even yet very beautiful, and 
she may be said to perform infamously well. I have also 
seen Mrs. Buel, mentioned heretofore, do the same. She is 
the woman whose husband lived at Lima, 111., when Joseph 
seduced her from him. I have also seen Mrs. Knowlton in 
the same capacity Sh 5 . is the mother of my brother How- 
ard's wife, Martha. 



46 Fifteen Yeaks among the Mormons. 

Martha is a good and pure woman, and will not submit to 
the double wife practice, although she is forced to acknow- 
ledge, in common with all Mormon women, that it is right 
in principle, each week when she is questioned, as they all 
are, by the " teachers." When my brother Howard one time 
brought home another wife, Martha fought her out of the 
house, and he was forced to console himself with one. But 
when I left Salt Lake last year, he was courting two sisters, 
whom he intended to take home, thinking they would to- 
gether be able to hold the balance of power in Martha's 
household. I presume she will in the end submit, as that 
is sure to be the fate of most Mormon women. 

"Satan" is generally represented by Judge Phelps, for 
whom I have no words sufficiently hateful. Levi Hancock 
also often performed the same. And " Adam " by Orson 
Hyde and Parley P. Pratt. I have no doubt but these cha- 
racters have been represented by others, but these are the 
persons who generally do it. The whole room was hung 
with white cloth, and behind one side of the " Garden of 
Eden " there was no wall but the curtain, with an arrange- 
ment of " peep-holes," where Mormons who have before taken 
their Endowments may witness it again. BrigUam Young 
was in the practice of sending for various ones among the 
women to that room, whej;e he examined them ^ to their 
pass-words and grips, and forced them to witness, again the 
" temptation." I was often sent for afterwards eJ Salt Lake 
on such occasions. 

The character of the " Lord " was always rejvx^nted by 
u Brother Brigham, if he could possibly be there- -i? sot, he 



Endowments. 47 

deputized some one ; but Brigham never played the " Devil," 
or " Adam " on these occasions. 

I think I need not inform my readers how heartily the 
women mentioned as " Eves " at these infernal rites were in 
secret despised and hated by the great mass of the Mormon 
women : especially Eliza Snow. Though forced to treat them 
well in society there, I take pleasure in letting them know 
the opinion that obtained among their own sex, and which 
would have found an expression of universal disgust from 
those of their associates, if it were not crushed into silence by 
the overshadowing power of the Prophet. 

We were now undressed again, and each put on the "gar- 
ment" which is so arranged as to form a whole suit at once ; 
and the " robe," which is a strip of white muslin, say three- 
fourths of a yard wide, and long enough to reach to the feet, 
gathered in the middle, and tied by a bow, to the left shoul- 
der, and brought across the body, and the edges fastened to- 
gether on the right side, with, a belt around the waist of the 
same. Over this was put the apron we had received in the 
" first glory ;" and the women wore what is called a veil § 
made of a large piece of book muslin, reaching nearly to the 
floor, and gathered up at one corner to fit the head. The 
men wore a kind of turban, made of the same material, other- 
wise men and women were dressed alike. Thus disguised, 
it was quite impossible for us to recognize each other 

We were next led into what is called the Terrestrial Glory ; 
where Brigham Young received us, and after a long effort to 
explain the disgusting scene in the " Garden," as necessary to 
our future exaltation, he gave each a pass- word and grip 



48 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

necessary, he said, to admit us into the " Celestial Glory *," 
where our (i. e. Mormon) " god " dwells. Some say this is 
Adam; and some that Joe Smith is to be our "god," and 
afterwards, Brigham Young intimated, that he (Brigham), 
was the medium of our salvation, and that Joseph was his 
"god." They do not all agree upon this point; but they do 
agree upon another thing, and that is: that there are many 
gods, and they do not acknowledge the one Triune God of 
the Bible, but that every man will sometime be a " god ;" 
and that women are to be the ornaments of his kingdom, and 
dependent upon him for resurrection and salvation ; and that 
our salvation is dependent upon the recollection of these pass- 
words ; that when we get to Heaven, these pass- words will 
open the door to us if we can recollect them ; but even then, 
Brigham's permission is necessary before the women can en- 
ter. The absolute truth of which theory I have never doubted 
until within a few months. 

From this we pass, after being armed with the pass-words 
and grips, to another room, where is an altar, before which, 
if any wish, they are " sealed" — that is married. The name of 
this I do not recollect, but it is the third " Glory." We 
arrived finally, where a veil separated us from the " Celestial 
Glory." A man behind the veil examined us, as to the pass- 
words and grips Brigham had given us, and to whom we gave" 
our "new name," received at the first anointing. Holes 
through the veil enabled him to see us when we could not see 
him, and also, to cut with a small pair of scissors, certain 
marks, beside others, the Masonic square and compass, upon 
the right and left breast of our " garments," and upon the 



Endowments. 49 

right knee, a gash, deep enough to make a scar, by which we 
were to be recognized as Mormons. This gash upon the right 
knee is now often omitted, because many of the women ob- 
ject to it. We were then admitted into the " Celestial Glory," 
where, seated upon a throne, in great state, was a person 
representing " our god." This was a gorgeously furnished 
room, illustrating by earthly signs a heavenly glory. This 
ends the first " anointing." 

The time occupied in this initiation is about ten hours. 
Two days in the week are set apart for this purpose, and 
sometimes group after group succeeds each other, and the ini- 
tiation is continued all day, and not unfrequently long after 
midnight. 

Arrived at this point, the candidate is prepared to pro- 
ceed to the " second anointing." This I have never received, 
and for various reasons, not the least of which was, that very 
few have received this as yet, and will not until the new 
temple at Salt Lake city is finished. I had also heard it 
hinted, that the "second anointing" was administered 
without clothing of any kind ; and moreover, as it will be 
seen hereafter, I had reason to doubt somewhat, though not 
entirely to discard Mormonism. 

It was a noticeable feature, that the outride show of some 
of the regalia and furniture connected with these " Endow- 
ments " were made to conform to those of Masonry ; and 
Mormons are anxious to have the " Gent : les " associate all 
they know of these beastly " Endowments," with Masonry, or 
as being a modified form of it, made eligible to women^ as & 
blind to cover the real objects of this " Institution ;" and I 



50 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

have noticed by the puttie prints, since my arrival in the 
States, that this was the opinion entertained among* those 
"Gentiles" supposed to be best informed upon this subject 
But this is but a mere blind; and the real object of these 
mystic forms is no way connected with, or borrowed from 
Masonry. Now, in conclusion of my disclosures upon this 
part of my subject, associated as it is with hateful memories 
of that peculiar kind, most distasteful to the recollection of a 
pure woman, I deem it my duty, in compensation for what 
I have felt compelled to omit of the foregoing, especially of 
that never to be forgotten scene in the " Garden of Eden,* 
to state, that the " moral " and object of the whole is, socially, 
to unsex the sexes ; * * ■ * * * * * 
* * * and when I call the attention of 
the reader to the fact, that while I have described the dress 
of all the parties to this inhuman display, and ocular demon- 
stration, I have not mentioned the dress of "Adam and Eve? 
nor the nature of the "Fruit" by which each was in turn 
tempted ; I think he will admit, that while I have said enough, 
I have also left more unsaid than the imagination, held with 
the loosest possible rein, would be likely to picture ; and I 
have only to add, that the reality is too monstrous for human 
belief* And in view of the above facts, penned under emo- 
tions too deep for tears ; facts, the truth of which, not only 

* It would seem to be a misfortune, that a false estimate of pro- 
priety should be allowed to interpose a barrier against the exposure 
of these Morman debaucheries. But as Mrs. S , from conscien- 
tious scruples, and a doubt as to the good to be accomplished by a 
more full disclosure, preferred silence, we leave this subject as it is. 



Endowments. 51 

myself, but thousands of outraged women in Utah, would, if 
once freed from the fear of actual death, substantiate by their 
oaths ; the truth of which I should attest by my blood, if 
within reach of Mormon assassination, may I not be per- 
mitted to appeal to the Christian mothers of the world, in be- 
half of those women, now shut up at Salt Lake, and in behalf 
of their daughters, just budding by flocks and whoie broods 
into the new existence of womanhood, to be prostituted under 
such a system ? Will this Christian land ; will the mothers 
of Christendom not put forth an effort to save them ? Above 
all, will not this great people, through its government, inter- 
pose the strong arm of the public law ; backed, as it must be, 
by armed men, to open the doors to over fifteen thousand 
women imprisoned, for the crime of being women ; and foi 
the purpose, now not disguised, of raising up, in the shortest 
possible space of time, a race of swift, and armed witnesses, 
to defend and propagate this new faith — a faith resting upon 
no better foundation than the mere dictum of a pretended 
Prophet, whose dying words proved his disbelief in a God,* 
and which faith is to-day undisputed, by more than half a 
million followers ? 

I shall never forget the feelings with which I left the En- 
dowment rooms, on this occasion. I went immediately to my 
mother, who, it appeared, had just made the same discovery ; 
and was making an effort to reconcile such practices with her 
belief in Mormonism. She recounted to me with mournful 

* The last words of Joseph Smith were, " My Lord, my God, have 
mercy upon us, if there is a God " 



52 Fifteen Yeaks among the Mormons. 

earnestness, the miraculous cure of her deafness, and men- 
tioned a circumstance which had occurred just before the 
Prophet's death, as follows : It appears the Prophet Joseph 
had one day broken the leg of my brother Howard, while 
wrestlino- They were always together, and were both fond 
of that sport, and on this occasion they had wrestled with un- 
common enthusiasm, when, by an unlucky pass, Howard fell 
with a broken leg. It was immediately set by the " Prophet," 
with the assistance of one of his wives, with but little pain, as 
Howard alleged. It was then anointed with consecrated oil, 
and was well in so short a time, that it had at least the ap- 
pearance of a miracle. Howard to this day claims he ex- 
perienced no pain of any amount, and believes yet that Joseph 
healed it. 

With all these astonishing evidences before us, how could 
we doubt Mormonism. These facts were known to us, and an 
account of many other similar cases were circulated, and be- 
lieved among us. How could we accept the Prophet in one 
particular, and reject him in another. I often hear persons 
express astonishment that people can be deluded so easily. 
If they knew human nature better, they would recollect, that 
to believe what the best evidence at our command clearly 
teaches, affords the highest proof of good faith. In this case 
my mother w r as unaccustomed to reason, and I was less than 
seventeen years of age. The influence of the public opinion 
with which we were surrounded, was all one way. The facts 
were admitted, and we saw no escape. Mormonism was true; 
and if so, that was the end of argument. 



ENDOWMENTS. 53 

But the momentary doubt was soon swallowed up by the 
all-absorbing topic which soon engrossed the Church. The 
ihreatening aspect of public sentinent among the Gentiles 
clearly indicated that it would not brook our delay for another 
year ; and gloomily, our whole community began to close in 
upon the only apparent salvation for the Church and its 
Prophet. 



0* Fifteen I ears among ^he Mormons. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE EXODUS, 



The terrible recollection of our last farewell to Xauvoo, and 
what followed, is still before me, fresh as. a thing of yester- 
day. 

A people who could make such sacrifices, in vindication of 
religious belief, amidst suffering by cold, and hunger, and fa- 
tigue, are at least entitled to the credit of being honest when 
they say they believed it true. We had been directed at the 
close of the harvest to commence drying potatoes, and pump 
kins, and beef, and to parch corn, and make strong durable 
clothing. This was continued until February, 1846. when all 
appeared to be ready for a general movement. 

The Temple was finished and dedicated ; and when the 
final song was sung, and the last benediction pronounced by 
the Prophet, amidst the tears and the lamentations of strong 
men, and trusting women, and the last maledictions uttered 
against the Gentiles, the Temple was abandoned, and the sig- 
nal given for the commencement of that " exodus," which, 
even to this day, lingers upon my recollection, as among the 
most wonderful and sublime movements of which the world 
has any knowledge. 



The Exodus. 55 

The noise of preparation for the westward march was min 
gled with the sound of the hammer, which gave the finishing 
stroke to the Temple, and the last " amen " of the dedication, 
with the command of " forward," from the captain of " Tens." 
The movable ornaments of the temple, which had been put 
up perhaps but an hour since, w r ere taken down, and packed 
for future use, iu ornamenting another Temple in the wilder- 
ness. Even the great bell was not forgotten, and is now at 
Salt Lake, ready to be swung when the Temple there is ready 
to receive it. 

This bell was stolen at St. Louis, by a company of Mor- 
mons, under the command of Capt. Mott, and taken to Nauvoo. 
Whether it was ever known by the owners at St. Louis who 
took the bell or not, I am not informed ; but I was present on 
one occasion, when this Mr. Mott was telling one of the Heads 
of the Church about it. Mott pointed to a span of horses, and 
said, "that is the team that drew the bell we i selected] in St. 
Louis." It was well known among the Mormons that it was 
stolen. 

The company of ten wagons to which myself and husband 
were attached, left the city soon after the Prophet and " the 
Twelve." Each ten wagons were in charge of a captain. 
My brother William was in the family of Brigham Young, 
and hence was in the advance; but my mother and the rest 
of the family were not then ready, and were left to join some 
other company. I recollect she toli me afterwards, she sold 
her house and lot, worth about $800^ for four pounds of pork ; 
of course the Mormon title to the land was not considered 
good. 



56 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Our company crossed the Mississippi on the ice the first 
day, and camped at night at Sugar Creek, in Iowa. This was 
about the middle of February, 1846. Then commenced a 
scene of suffering and hardship, among the women and chil- 
dren, which I should now think beyond human endurance. 

All night, the wagons came trundling into camp, with half 
frozen children, crying for food, and the same the next day — 
and so on the whole line of march. 

The weather was not cold for the time of year, but the open 
sky and bare ground for women and children, in February, is 
a thing to be endured only when human nature is put to the 
rack of necessity. Many a mother hastily buried her dead 
child by the wayside during that winter march, half regret- 
ting she could not lie down with it herself, and be at peace. 

Our company remaiBed fo# several days at this encamp- 
ment, and as company after company passed, I began fully 
to realize my situation. I was now separated from the rest 
of my family, for the first time; and left alone with my hus- 
band, and I was not certain if my mother had, or would start 
for the wilderness. 

We had a cloth tent, which, if we had been well provided 
with sufficient clothing, would have made us comfortable. 

One night, after we had been here for several days, a heavy 
snow fell ; and we awoke in the morning, to find the snow had 
broken the tent pole, and ourselves half buried under it. 
While Wallace was yet engaged in repairing the damage, 
and had removed in part the snow, and put up a new pole, my 
brother William, of whose whereabouts I knew nothing until 
now, looked into tin tent, and said, "Nettie, you are cold." 



The Exodus. 57 

I was cold and chilled. The little clothing we had was wet 
with snow. William had hardly spoken to me until now, since 
my marriage; and looking round, sadly, he said at length, 
< l Nettie, this is not much like our father's home we have left 
in Pennsylvania. If we die here, we shall die the death of 
martyrs." He believed Mormonism was true, and he afterwards 
died a martyr, while I lived one. 

Our company was that day reorganized, and we moved on 
ward. For a few days, I rode in the wagon of the Prophet 
by his invitation, and by an arrangement made by Wallace 
and William, as I could ride more comfortable thus. 
Brother Brigham, upon hearing me ask William if he had left 
my mother and the children at Nauvoo, to be murdered by 
the mob, directed him to go back for them. He accordingly 
returned to Nauvoo. When we had arrived at Sheridan 
River, William left us, and I rode again with my husband. 

Thus the march was continued, in companies of ten wagons 
each ; and as we were lightly loaded, the stores of the ten 
families were placed in our wagon; but it made no great ad- 
dition to our load, for the provisions already began to fail ; 
and after about a month, we were put upon short allowance. 
The men killed what game they could upon the way, whieh 
was but little at that time of the year. It was a weary jour- 
ney ; crossing rivers, and bleak prairies, through Iowa in a 
• westerly direction from Nauvoo. Sometimes short of wood 
and water, and always short of food. The full history of 
that sad journey of five months will never be written. Pio- 
neers had been sent on to look out the way, and we followed 
in the common trail ; a long drawn, stragglirg, struggling 

3* 



55 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

train, seeking a Lome in the wilderness — no one knew where 
or when it would be found. This was the beginning of that 
half nomadic life of suffering and privation, which has at 
length given character to the Mormons, and rendered them one 
in purpose, and a strong, isolated people ; self-dependent, and 
quick in resource ; asking nothing from, and granting nothing 
to the rest of mankind, and rough-schooled them to an inde- 
pendence, as surprising as it is perfect. 

It was the policy of the Heads of the Ghurch to have the 
column move on as fast as possible until spring, then to halt 
at planting time, and put in crops for the coming masses, 
whose provisions were exhausted. These were called 
" stakes." 

We arrived at Garden Grove, the first "stake" west of 
Nauvoo, on the first of June, 1846, after having been on half 
allowance for a long time. Those in front moved on to the 
" stake " at Council Bluffs. We were directed to make a farm 
and plant, while part of the men were sent south, into Mer 
cer county, Missouri, to buy provisions. Garden G*rove is on 
Grand Biver, near the north line of Missouri. After we were 
established, and David Fulmer was chosen President of the 
" stake," the Prophet moved on to Council Bluffs. 

My husband was chosen among others to go into Mercer 
county to buy provisions, and left me with his married sister, 
Mary Allred. My allowance of provisions at this time was 
very small — a piece of bread and some milk, less than half 
as much as I needed, was the small share allowed me, with as 
many wild onions as I wished. 

We watched the return of the men with great anxiety, 



The Exodus. 59 

tfhile our stock of provisions grew less and less, till at length 
our overwrought imaginations pictured our prospects as des- 
perate. To render our condition more gloomy still, it 
occurred to us that the men had gone into the locality from 
whence the Mormons had been driven by the Missourians a 
few years previous, and if they were recognized as Mormons, 
they would undoubtedly be imprisoned, or perhaps murdered. 

After two long weeks, just as we were giving up to de- 
spair, the men returned with the grain and provisions they 
had earned by laboring among the farmers, and some meat 
of hogs they had not earned, but taken, from the neighborhood 
of the settlements where these hogs were turned loose, and 
had become partly wild. The Mormons considered it right 
to take anything they could from the Gentiles, as they held 
themselves to be the only people of God. 

I have no recollection of having enjoyed so great a feast as 
on the return of the men with the provisions. I ate all I wished 
the first time for over four months. We lived a short time 
in our tent, which we had pitched in a small wood near the 
river. Our bed consisted of two quilts and one blanket, and 
we had a few tin dishes, which made up our stock of " furni- 
ture ;" and yet, strange as it may seem, when not actually 
starving, we were very happy and contented, for up to this 
time my husband had been very kind and attentive, and I 
had so much confidence in him that I felt no fear he would 
take another wife. I was happy, too, in the expectation of 
soon being a mother, and my husband engaged his niece, 
Jane Henderson, to stay with me. Our neighbors had as- 
sisted Wallace in building us a nice log cabin, abou'; one 



60 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

mile from the other houses at the " stake," on the bank of 
the river. Into this we soon moved. I have no hesitation 
in saying this was the most beautiful and romantic spot of 
earth I have ever seen before or since. Our cabin was sur.- 
rounded by a heavy growth of timber, and each tree was 
entwined by the climbing rose or entangled masses of the 
wild grape : and the whole scene was a blooming labyrinth 
of wild flowers and graceful foliage, enlivened by the twitter 
of birds, the noisy whiz of the pinnated grouse, and every 
variety of game, bounding from the thickets or along the 
graceful banks of Grand River. The wild turkey and deer 
were abundant, and the only disagreeable neighbors we found 
here were the wolves and the owls. The first often frightened 
us at night by their threatening howls, while the latter ren- 
dered the night hideous and lonely beyond measure by their 
unearthly hooting from two oak trees that overhung our 
little cabin. Indeed, these two oaks appeared to be the cen- 
tre of a vast circle of owl society, for from far up and down 
and over the river, and from the far-off depths of the heavy 
timber, and over the little prairie near by, came back a quick 
response from owl throats, in every variety of pitch and 
measure, from the hoarse bass to the tremulous treble, until 
the flower-enamelled wilds about us fairly trembled with the 
crash of answering hoots and gibberings ; and then as sud- 
denly all was still again, and when half lost in slumber, per- 
haps, again to be startled by a repetition of the dismal con- 
cert. I have since then felt the loneliness of the wild prairie 
and the great deserts of the West, as well as the unmitigated 
solitude of the Rocky Mountains ; but I am of the opinion 



The Exodus. 61 

that perfest solitude cannot exist where owls do not hoot at 
night. 

But my dream of personal security was soon to be disturbed 
in a way I little suspected. I had noticed my husband had 
ueated his niece Jane uncommonly well, and one day I saw 
him with her in the door-yard in close conversation. He 
took her hand, whereupon she ran into the house, and coming 
to me, threw her arms round my neck, and said, 

14 My dear aunt, do not be offended at me, I could not help 
it." 

44 Help what }" said I. 

" Did you not see uncle Wallace ?" 

I replied that I did, but that he was only in fun. 

14 Oh ! no he was not. He says he wants me for a wife, and 
I will not remain here for another day." 

My readers will understand that it is not an uncommon 
thing for Mormons to marry their nieces, and even their half 
sisters. For instance, it often happens that when a man has 
several wives, their children, having a common father, will 
intermarry. 

Wallace soon came in and sat down by me, with a thought- 
ful and troubled air, and after an interval of silence he kissed 
me. I repulsed him for the first time in my life, saying he 
was false to me, that he loved me no longer, to whieh he 
replied, 

41 Nettie, I am satisfied with you, I want no other — and if 
I was not attached to you, I should know what to do. But 
that is what embarrasses me. If I hated you, I should take 
another wife at once, as I must do in the end living as I do 



62 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

among this gang of Mormons. I am enlisted, and it is more 
than my life is worth to attempt to leave them. Indeed I 
could not do so now and live, as I know too much about 
them — more than you imagine. But here is the trouble, I 
can no longer endure being the butt of ridicule among the 
men for having but one wife. You may as well understand 
the whole case at once. I have concluded, as between the 
two evils, to bring home another wife. I do not care who. If 
you have a choice, select one, and I will always recognize you 
as the first and principal wife. I must stop the mouths of the 
croakers, who would sacrifice everything to their spiritual 
wifeism." 

Who can imagine the horror with which I listened to 
what, at the time, seemed the end of human hope with me. 
I had married Wallace to avoid this most dreaded evil, and I 
was now to be sacrificed. 

Where was my mother now ? or a brother ? I was alone. 
To whom should I fly ? At last I appealed to him — to my 
husband — and threw myself upon his generosity. I pointed 
him to the suffering and privation of the last five months, 
the cold and hunger I had endured, my age, and to the fact, 
that though but a child myself, I was soon to be a mother, 
and prayed that he would, at least for the sake of the one 
unborn, delay the terrible step for a while. The big tears 
rolled down his sun-browned face, and he trembled with emo- 
tion. I knew a terrible struggle tore his breast, and I 
gathered calmness to abide tli 3 issue. It was a fierce contest, 
and I felt my fate hung upon the result. I awaited the end, 
and it came but too soon. 



The Exodus. 63 

He grew calm at length, and after a long period of troubled 
thought, rose and said, as he stepped to the door, 

"Jane, you may stay with your aunt to-day : to-morrow is 
our wedding. I have your father's consent, and it is all ar- 
ranged. The sooner it is over now the better." 

I saw he was about to leave the cabin. With one wdld 
bound I sprang upon him, with the intention of holding him 
by force, but he met me with a look that told me all was 
over ; and quick as the lightning's flash, I spurned him with 
all a woman's hate, and shaking him off, dashed with what 
speed my condition would allow in the direction of the river, 
with what intention I knew not, but I have still a recollection 
of throwing, as I ran, my whole soul into one wild yell of 
horror, as a last adieu to home, for in the excitement of the 
moment I had no wish to return to it. My next recollection 
of this unnatural scene was upon waking up the next morn- 
ing, as if from some horrible dream. I found Wallace and 
Jane by my bed, apparently .greatly alarmed at my condition. 

Wallace showed the greatest sincerity in his expressions 
of sorrow, and plead strongly for pardon — promised never to 
bring, or again attempt to bring, home another wife. 

I cannot now tell whether his unfeigned distress gave me 
most pleasure or pain. I was weak and exhausted, and 
wished not to live. It occurred to me that if my child should 
be unfortunately a girl, it would be better for me to die now 
than to be the instrument of giving life to another victim to 
the cruel fate which awaits all Mormon women. 

Wallace reproached himself as being my murderer, and in 
the excess of his anguish cursed Mormonism as having led 



64: Fifteen \ears among the Mormons. 

him into every possible crime — that it had lured him on to a 
fate which he could not bear, and from which he dare not fly. 
He really moved my pity. I asked him if he would take 
the measures to find my mother. He said if I would allow 
him, my wishes should be his law. He made no conditions, 
but his surrender was perfect, and volunteered to go to his 
" bride's " father and break off his engagement at once and 
entirely. Hope, which had so lately seemed impossible to 
me, once more lighted my future. I required no pledge but 
sincerity, and waited with alternate hope and fear while he 
was gone to undo his marriage engagement. 

When he returned, he said it was all arranged with " her " 
father, and the " Heads ,; of the Church ; and that now I 
should have no more trouble with him upon the subject of 
spiritual wifeism, and I accepted in good faith his pro- 
mise. 



A Night with the Dead and the Wolves. 05 



CHAPTER VI. 

A NIGHT WITH THE DEAD AND THE WOLVES. 

How quick the lights and shades of life succeed each 
other. The day which succeeded our reconciliation was. I 
think, the happiest of my life. 

I had a long talk on the bank of the river, with Wallace, 
alone, in which he renewed his promise to take no wife but 
me. And to put me more fully at my ease, he explained by 
reference to our "Endowment vows," described in the fourth 
chapter of this narrative, why he had felt it his duty to take, 
in obedience to the commands of the Church authorities, 
another wife as he had ; and in the end, offered up a fervent 
prayer for my recovery, and that I might yet be satisfied with 
the plan of salvation through the " Prophet." 

It is strange, that at this time I did not observe that in 
his prayer he still recognized the double wife doctrine ; but 
I was too happy to escape the evil upon any conditions, to 
look closely into the argument of the case. All I asked was 
my own husband, and this granted, I was willing to admit in 
theory the whole of Mormonism. 

It may be interesting to my readers to know that on this 
occasion, when we had just escaped having another wife in 



60 Fiftfkh Years among- the Mormons. 

the house, I was barefooted, and had not a sign of a bonnet 
and for want of a more suitable dress, I was sitting on the 
bank of the river, with my husband, in my night-gown, and 
he was dressed in buckskin hunting shirt, and pants and 
moccasins. And yet, this was the happiest day of my life. 
As we were to make a holiday of it, after dinner we all 
went to the river, fishing. While there, Wallace saw a deer 
on the other side, and leaving me with Jane, he got his gun 
from the cabin, and shot it. The deer, with the fine lot of 
fish we had caught, marked the day, one of good cheer and 
plenty. In a few days more, I was the mother of a fine boy. 
Wallace was kind to me, and was much pleased with his child. 

Several weeks passed thus calmly, in which I was uncom- 
monly happy, but I began to observe something wrong with 
Wallace. He would walk the house in an unsocial manner, 
or sit as if brooding over some great sorrow, for hours. 

I said to him one day, in order to draw him out, that 
if he would promise to give me the child, and allow me to 
go untrammelled, he should have as many wives as he 
pleased ; and as he made no reply, I gave the baby to Jane, 
and asked him to go with me for a walk, to which he replied, 

" I cannot, I am perfectly wretched, knowing as I do, that 
I can never be contented with you, or make you so, while 
restino- under my present obligations to the Mormons. We 
have been deceived. You do not know it, but I do. I have 
taken solemn oaths to support the doctrines of Mormonism ; 
I have been ever persuaded, and led on, till I dare neither 
r ""eat nor gc forward." 

knd he wept like a child. I thought then, and think still, 



A JSTlGHT WITH THE DEAD AND THE WoLVES. 67 

that Wallace Henderson was honest in the beginning, and 
that whatever were his faults afterwards, they were chargeable 
to the cruel impositions of a false church. This I say, in 
this connection, because hereafter I may have no heart to say 
anything in his favor. I said to him, " you are mad." He 
was looking pale, and haggard, and said, 

" I was about to tell you all, but here comes that girV* 
father^ 

I saw Mr. Hawkins coming to the door ; I took the baby 
and went to the bank of the river, as I did not wish to hear 
what he had to say. 

This Mr. Hawkins was the father of another girl the 
Mormons wished my husband to marry, and I presumed his 
errand was to induce Wallace to be sealed to her at once. 
He remained a long while, and when he went away I saw 
Wallace take a seat on the door-sill, thoughtfully and much 
troubled. I sat upon the bank of the river until it was quite 
lark, and I did not notice at the time that my baby was not 
well wrapped up. Finally, Wallace started from his reverie, 
.*,ame to me, and kindly asked why I did not come in, and why 
I had left my own house. I saw by his manner that Mr 
Hawkins had not succeeded in his aims and I was happy again. 
We went to the house, and Wallace appeared in better 
spirits than usual. Jane had built a fire, and the supper was 
soon ready, and the blanket hung up at the door, for we had 
ao other as yet. I told Jane, as I was now nearly well, she 
jould go home in the morning, and I would try to get on 
without her. I wished to remove every possible hinderance 
V) our good understanding. 



68 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

The child cried most of the night, but appeared better it 
the morning 7 and Jane went home. 

We lived very pleas in tly for a few days. Wallace waa 
contented and happy, but other troubles were in store for 
us — for me. Our child, which had not been well since that 
night on the bank of the river, and which took cold there, 
was taken sick, and although we prayed, and used all the 
means prescribed by the " Church," which are anointing with 
" consecrated oil," and prayers — it died. This was a terrible 
blow to me. I felt the child had gained by the change, but 
I was not reconciled. I had clung to it as something that I 
could hold to my heart, in undivided love, in place of my 
husband ; for I began to understand that sooner or later, I 
must give him up. 

My aunt and other women came the next day and made 
my dead baby a shroud, and laid it out upon a chest. It had 
no coffin yet. When all this was done, each took leave, and 
left us alone. There was a great deal of sickness at the 
time, and most of them had some one at home requiring 
attention. I was too much absorbed in my grief to notice 
how things went. My child was not to be buried until the 
next day. Though dead, it was mine yet another night, and 
I clung to it. 

My aunt would have remained with us, but her daughter 
Phebe, even then, lay at the point of death. And Wallace 
told her he did not wish to be unreasonable, and he should 
not leave me ; so she went, apparently having done for us all 
necessity demanded at her hands. Although, before dark, it 
seemed to me awful, that we were o pass the night alone, 



A Night with the Dead and the Wolves. 69 

young as we both were, with our first child dead in the Louse; 
yet long before morning came, I would have given all my 
interest in this world for even a faithful dog as a com- 
panion. 

It will be recollected from what I have said in the chapter 
preceding this, that our cabin was over a mile from the main 
"stake," and of course was that distance from any other 
human dwelling. It was also near one of the thickest coverts 
for every kind of wild game ; and when it is understood that 
most of the country in that part of Iowa is open prairie, the 
intelligent woodsman will see at once, that the vicinity of our 
dwelling must be a resort for whatever beast of prey might 
chance to be an inhabitant of the country. It was a beautiful 
night. The moon shone clear and calmly down among the 
newly budding trees, and opening flowers of spring. Not a 
oreath of air stirred the half-grown leaves of the forest, or 
rippled upon the bosom of the river. But teeming nature, 
once again wakened from the long sleep of winter, was vocal 
and noisy with its new life. The owls were never so clamor- 
ous or dismal as on that night, and the wolves made the 
distant welkin ring with their angry howls ; and a thousand 
wild voices were awake that night, and blending with the 
solemn moaning of the river currents, until then always 
pleasant to me, to crush my sinking heart. Oh ! who knows 
how much the heart can bear and not break ? I had not 
spoken, or looked away from my dead child, since my aunt 
had left. It lay upon the chest under the open window 7 , and 
the pale moon shone in upon its little face, now cold and 
wan. We had no dcor, and nc glass in our one window, as 



70 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

there was none in the country, and neither could be cl^ed 
except by a blanket. Wallace had neglected from day to 
day to make a ioor as the weather did not render one 
absolutely necessary. 

Somewhat along in the evening, William Hickman, one 
of the "Danites," came to the cabin door, and asked for 
Wallace, and seeing there was some trouble with us, came 
in and inquired what was the matter. He had not heard 
that our child was dead. Hickman said: "This will make 
it bad for us ; but what a splendid night for our expedition, 
and things are in such a shape we cannot put it off?" 

Wallace pointed to our dead baby, under the open window, 
and made no reply. 

"Yes," said Hickman, "I see that is serious. But we 
must go." Then turning to me, said, "Nettie, you are a 
i brave,' are you not ? You will not be afraid, will you ? If 
you exercise a little judgment, you will see that circumstances 
alter cases, and there are lives dependent upon this mis- 
sion." 

Wallace told himhe could not go; he said that would be 
too cruel. Hickman then turned to me, and said, "You 
must not talk of bravery again." 

I had listened to this conversation unmoved till now. It 
seemed as if nothing else could have drawn me from my one 
crushing sorrow. I called the wretch's attention to the 
howling of the wolves, to rny dead baby, to my feeble health, 
having scarcely recovered from the sickness of childbirth ; 
and lastly to my own age, being but little over seventeen. I 
think I called him some hard names; and asked him, if 



A Night with the Dead and the Wolves. 71 

when lie said "some lives depended upon the mission," ho 
did not mean, that the object of the u mission " was to take 
the lives of some ' Gentiles. 1 " I appealed to them both as 
men, for protection as a woman ; an appeal which I have 
since heard, is never disregarded by Christian men. 

Hickman, although somewhat embarrassed, said they w r ould 
fasten the door, as well as they could, but Wallace must go, 
and it was time they were there already ; and, taking him by 
the arm, hurried him away, and they left me alone with my 
dead child. Great God, what a night ! 1" 

If the peril had been any the less real, I think I must have 
gone mad. As it was, long after the footsteps of the base 
men who had just left me had died away ; and after I had sat 
cowering half dead with fear, by the side of my child, for a 
length of time w r hich I have no means of measuring, I was 
startled into a full sense of my real situation, by an increased 
howling among the wolves ; and which appeared to close in 
upon the cabin from every direction. I was certain, and 
could not be mistaken. They increased in number, and 
every moment came nearer. Oh! then the howling was 
4 3rrific. 

For a few moments I was paralyzed. The clear, calm 
moonlight fairly recoiled and trembled as howl answered 
howl, first on this, then on that side of the river, and up and 
down, and everywhere. Strange as it rnay seem, my chief 
and first fear was, that my dead child would be torn by them, 
and devoured. T hen I thought nothing of my own personal 
clanger. Bi*- oon bethought me what to do, and action 
was relief 



72 Fifteen Yeaes among the Mormons. 

My pent up soul put forth its strength, to save my dead 
child. My first movement was to put out the lights, proba- 
bly the very worst thing I could have done. Next, I fastened 
down the blanket as well as might be, at the door and win- 
dow. I had nothing with which to barricade them. 

I saw very soon my folly in having blown out the lights ; 
for, within ten minutes, the wolves were howling in the open 
moonlight, near the cabin, and I could hear and see them 
snarl and snap each other; and quickly they were nearer 
and nearer the door, and disputed with each other for a place 
at the entrance. 

Oh, horror ! That was a terrible moment. I screamed 
and beat against the blanket, to frighten them back. This 
would succeed for a moment, but other wolves would return 
to be driven off in the same way. 

Time sharpened my wits, and I actually grew self-possessed 
as my chances of escape lessened. A minute then was equal 
to an hour of ordinary thinking. I knew where to lay my 
hand upon a board. It was near my child. I screamed, 
and drove them off the door-step, and then, before they could 
return, I laid the corpse upon the board, and lifted it over 
head upon the joist, which I could just reach from the chest ; 
and that was out of danger. But the wolves were ba^\ 
again, mad and more furious than before ; I drove them with 
a will back once again, and then it took me but a moment to 
draw myself up to, and on the joist, and I was safe, at least 
I believed so, with my child, and the event proved it true. 

There was no chamber floor nor ladder, and how I got up 
* *ould not tell afterwards. I watched my child, the long, 



A Night with the Dead and the Wolves. 73 

long night, sitting upon the joist, and when the wolves 
threatened most to come in, I yelled them away, or at least 
I imagined I frightened them. One thing is certain, none 
passed the blanket, although more than once I saw it move 
in the moonlight, and could hear their sharp, quick snuffing 
near it, as if smelling the way in. 

It was a long, dreary night; but strange as it may seem, 
[ suffered comparatively nothing from fear, until I found my- 
self apparently beyond the reach of the wolves; then my 
mind took in the whole position of affairs, in one terrible 
review ; and even magnified the danger still pending — I imag- 
ined, at first, it would be possible for them to gain the roof, 
and reach us in that way, as they well might have done, if 
the roof had been as frail as coverings to temporary buildings 
of this kind sometimes are. 

A few hours before daylight, they were more furious than 
ever, and I expected were about to choose some new point 
of attack. But they did not. 

The early morning light came at length, by degrees, and 
although it was a long time before it revealed the difference 
between that and the moonlight, inside the cabin, yet I knew 
it had come; because the wolves dropped off, one by one, 
and finally all was silent outside ; and the calmest and sweet- 
est spring morning I had ever seen, ushered in by the song 
of birds, came to my relief. Oh ! it was a relief, and I was 
not mad ; and my dear child was by my side. And then the 
tears, for the first time, during that long night, came to my 
eyes — to bless me, and I wept, in sad and calm reconciliation 
to the death of my child. A resignation I had not felt before 

4 



74 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

I have since recognized in this, a Hand of which Mormon 
ism had given me no account, and does not acknowledge, at 
least not in the beautiful sense of the Bible. 

After I was fully reassured, and had dried up my grateful 
tears, I began to cast about for the best method of getting 
down; **ad just at that point Wallace came home. He 
I-soked haggard and guilty. His first words were those of 
apology, and he begged earnestly for pardon. He assisted 
me down. I had no words for him then ; I needed rest, and 
singularly enough, I soon found a kindly relief, in a calm 
sleep, from which I awoke refreshed, but little before noon. 



Seeking my Mothek. 



CHAPTER VIL 



SEEKING MY MOTHER. 



The men came to bury my child. I was too weak to go to 
the grave, so I took leave of it at home, with a calmness 
which would have been impossible for me the day before; 
regretting most that I was not to be buried with it. 

When it was all over, I had a long talk with Wallace. I 
told him what my convictions were ; that I thought him a 
villain, that I felt myself not only the victim of his sensuality 
and selfishness, but that he was governed neither by the laws 
of God nor man, and was wanting in honor ; and when he 
attempted to justify himself, I gave him to understand, that 
it was of no particular consequence what he said, for his 
conduct was beyond the limits of endurance. 

This conversation gave me great pain, because I was even 
then greatly attached to him ; and had not entirely abandoned 
the hope, that his faults were more chargeable to the influence 
of Mormonism, than to his own bad heart. He protested, that 
if I could once understand his position, I would not condemn 
him 

He proposed we should move to the stake, near the other 
dwellings, to which T consented gladly, as I should there be 



76 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

not only safe from the wolves, but should be most likely to 
get some word from my mother ; to find whom now became 
the absorbing object of my life, as I believed she would not 
only take me home, and protect me against Wallace, or at 
least against his taking another wife, but that she would help 
me expose, as I knew she could not justify, some new enormi- 
ties of Mormonism, which I had discovered since we had 
parted. It will be recollected, that I was not yet past the age 
when the child goes to the mother for the cure of all its woes. 
We therefore moved up to the " stake " immediately. 

I asked Wallace, a few days after, where he went the night 
he left me with the wolves, and went with William Hick- 
man. 

Wallace finally told me the whole story, as follows : saying 
he would trust my honor not to expose him. 

I have to state in the first place, that there were two roads 
leading through Iowa to Council Bluffs. One passing by our 
14 stake," Garden Grove, and another parallel to it, six miles to 
the north. The one on which we lived, and had travelled 
when we came out, was called the Southern road ; and was 
mostly travelled the previous year. But that spring, most 
of the travel, whether by Mormons, or other emigrants, was 
on the Northern road. 

Wallace said, " the President of the 4 stake,' David Fulman, 
had received the information, that a Gentile family by the 
name of Martin, were about to pass Garden Grove, on the 
Northern road, and that they had a great many cattle and 
horses. This Martin was a man of wealth, who was on hi» 
way across the plains, probably going to California. 



Seeking my Mother. 77 

u The ' Danites ' were therefore directed by Fulman to in- 
tercept him, and take Martin's stock and tie them in the 
timber, where he would be unable to find them ; and when 
he had passed on, they could be brought out, which we accor- 
dingly did — Hickman and myself, with some others. I have 
one yoke of oxen, and David Fulmer has one, and the rest 
was distributed among the men as they had need. Isaac 
Allred has also one yoke of the oxen." 

I asked Wallace if he thought that right. He said, " the 
Mormons believed, and it was undoubtedly true, that those 
who were not for us, were against us." In reply to another 
question, he said, "If the emigrants, when they lose their 
cattle, go on, and do not run against their fate by making us 
too much trouble, in looking for, or in the attempt to recover 
them, they are not harmed ; otherwise they are put out of 
the way? 

We had been at the " stake " but a few days, when I had 
the good fortune to hear from my mother. 

It will be recollected that my brother William had been 
sent back by Brigham Young to Kauvoo for her, the previ- 
ous spring, and now we heard by a nephew of Isaac Allred, 
who had travelled with them part way, that they would pro- 
bably pass Garden Grove the next day ; though they would 
come no nearer than six miles of us, as they were to continue 
on the Northern road. My mother and William were not 
aware that we were at Garden Grove. I was anxious, and 
determined to go to the road the next morning, to meet them. 
Wallace asked me if he consented to take me there, if I would 
promise to come back. I told him I would not. We then 



78 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

had a long discussion, in which he told me, he did not wish 
me to leave him ; that he dare not leave the Mormons, or re- 
fuse to sustain all their requirements ; and that he had sworn 
to do so. He said it would cost him his life to refuse. That 
as soon as he could, he would take me away from them. lie 
was willing I should see my mother, but that I must not leave 
him ; and that by the next day, Isaac Allred would be back 
from Missouri. Allred had intended to bring back a horse, 
and if he did, we could get it, and overtake my mother, as 
they would travel but slowly. " Yes," said I, "a stolen horse, 
which I will not ride, if I never see my mother again." Wal- 
lace admitted it would probably be a stolen one. It happened 
there was not a single horse at the " stake," at the time. 

The weather was very beautiful the next morning, and I 
persuaded Wallace to start with me on foot to the upper 
road. I represented to him that I had often walked twice 
that distance, when coming from Nauvoo, when I had nothing 
to encourage me on, and now, the wish to see my mother, 
was a sufficient inducement for any effort. 

We therefore set out early, in fine spirits, following the 
river, and wading across it at the first shallow place. This 
was not unpleasant, as the weather was warm. We got along 
very well for about four miles, when I became so exhausted, 
that I could go no further ; and we rested for half an hour, 
with our eyes anxiously fixed in the direction of the road, 
^ grudging the delay of a moment; and then went on with 
more ease, until we came at last to the well worn track. We 
eagerly looked each way. The eye could command a view 
of several miles forward and back on the road, over the open 



Seeking my Mother. 79 

prairie. But no team in sight. None — no moving thing. 
Hope sank within me. We sat down and waited a long time, 
and still there was nothing to be seen on the trail to the east, 
from which they must come, if not already gone by. This 
was a great disappointment. I urged Wallace to remain all 
night, as they might possibly pass before morning. 

He said we could not, as there was danger from the In- 
dians ; and besides, we were not prepared to camp out. It 
was hard to give up the cherished hope of finding my mother, 
and of going on with her. I was determined, in case we met 
with the success we expected, not to return to Garden Grove, 
as I had nothing to call me back, where there was every 
thing to make it unpleasant to me. Both the girls Wallace 
had thought of marrying lived there yet. 

Wallace at length, took hold of me, and pulled me up, and 
we started back — on my part most reluctantly. It was like 
going to the grave. 

We had gone but a short distance when the sky became 
overcast, and threatened rain. But we hurried on. We were 
anxious, if possible, to reach the ford we had crossed in the 
morning, before it was too dark to find and pass it ; but what 
with the approaching night, and gathering clouds, it was soon 
dark, and then the rain set in, and we had no light but the 
successive flashing of the lightning. 

We had evidently delayed too long at the road. I became 
perfectly exhausted, and I sat down in the dark, the rain fall- 
ing in torrents, unable to move another step. We were now 
in a grove of timber, and had been guided by the tops of the 
trees and the noise of the river, in keeping a direct course 



80 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

down the stream, as we dare not venture too near the 
bank. 

Wallace said, it would not do to sit down, and he took me 
upon his back and carried me a long way, until he made a 
misstep, and fell, and we both found ourselves rolling upon 
the ground together, though unhurt. There we sat until the 
rain ceased, and we were then enabled to make our way very 
well by starlight, with none the less ease for being well 
rested. 

We soon found we were going astray, as we were out of 
hearing of the river, but imagined we could hear it off to the 
right, and by going in that direction we found it. When 
we arrived at the bank, we ascertained there was no crossing- 
place at that point. The banks were high, and the water 
roared wildly, and was rendered still more terrific by the 
mystery of the darkness. We now bethought us, that per- 
haps the rain had raised the stream somewhat, which, if so, 
would render it unsafe to cross. Wallace directed me to sit 
down and rest, while he examined the bank below. He was 
gone some time, and returned without finding a place where he 
could get to the water. He then went up the stream some 
distance, and had the good luck to find a low bank, and a 
ford near by. He waded over the river, and then back, to 
satisfy himself there was no deep holes ; then called to me to 
come up, as he dare not leave the place, for fear of losing it 
in the dark. On account of the distance, and the roaring of 
the water, I could not understand what he said, but went to 
nira, fearing he had met with some accident. 

T was so lame, and overworked by the long walk of the 



Seeking my Mtoher. 81 

day, and stiffened by the rain, that I was undei the necessity 
of resting several times before I arrived where he was, but 
felt myself greatly encouraged to hear of the discovery he had 
made. 

He wished to carry me over, but I dare not risk him in the 
dark ; and although he insisted upon doing so, I persuaded him 
it was safer to walk together, and take hold of hands, and 
thus we should be a mutual help, which would leave him his 
whole strength to stem the current, which had grown very 
strong since the rain. Thus we started into the water, holding 
each other by the hand. The water, most of the time, came 
just up to my arms, and it was with the greatest difficulty I 
kept my footing. But I held to my husband, who advanced 
carefully and surely, and we gained the other side in safety, 
greatly to my satisfaction. I then sat down upon the bank, 
while Wallace went to examine the locality. He came back 
soon, saying, as near as he could make out in the dark, 
we were not far from the old cabin, from which we had 
moved a few days since. This was the place where I had 
spent the night alone with my dead baby and the wolves. 
Wallace said we would go there and pass the night. He had 
by chance some matches with him, with which, if they were 
not ruined by the water, he could light a fire. Luckily his 
opinion proved to be correct, and we soon found the cabin, 
where we arrived glad enough. I was nearly as well pleased 
for the time as if I had found my mother. 

Wallace soon had a cheerful fire, and although we found no 
bed or food there, we were soon warm, grateful, and happy. 
He spread his coat upon the floor for me, and I laid down, 

4* 



82 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

and dropped asleep. But he allowed me to lie but a short 
time, as he said I had better get up and dry ray clothes, as I 
was liable to take cold. 

Wallace had been patient, and kind with me, during our 
tiresome adventure, which I appreciated very highly. When 
[ attempted to get up, I found it impossible at first to move 
my stiffened limbs. But by rubbing, and getting warm by 
the fire, I was better after a little. Long before we got fully 
dry, we were both asleep, and did not wake till the sun shone 
into the door the next morning. I found it impossible to 
walk, and Wallace, after putting on a fire, went to the " stake," 
and brought some breakfast, and a tin cup of warm tea, which 
greatly revived me. He also brought his oxen and sled to 
take me home ; and just as we were about to start, Isaac All- 
red came by, on his way down the river, for a hunt, and 
offered to take me home on his horse. Wallace insisted T 
should ride — placed me on his horse, and All red took me 
home, where I arrived, well satisfied with finding myself once 
more safely housed, and contrary to my expectations, I ex- 
perienced no great inconvenience from our adventure. I was 
in a few days quite well again. 



Among the Gentiles. 83 



CHAPTER VIH. 

AMONG THE GENTILES. 

My husband, a few days after this, said to me, u A great 
many Mormons have gone to Missouri, for the purpose of 
earning provisions, and the like, to bring into the * stake,* 
and I think of joining them in the enterprise. What do you 
lay to going with me, and we shall both get some kind of 
employment until winter V 7 

I gladly embraced the opportunity to get away from Mor- 
monism. T told Wallace I would like to go, but that I would 
never return. He said if I should hint at such an intention 
before I left, we should not be allowed to go. That our lives 
would be worth but little. " I should not dare to make such 
a remark unless I was ready to die ; and when in Missouri, it 
will be no safer to attempt an escape then than now, as the 
part of the State where we are going to is full of Mormons, 
though they are not known as such. And if we should at- 
tempt to throw ourselves upon the protection of the Gentiles 
we should be likely to meet the fate of Governor Boggs, who 
was shot among his friends in St. Louis." 

Wallace said further, with much feeling and apparent can- 
dor, " Others may perhaps escape from this gang, but I can 



84 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

not. I have gone too far. I have taken other obligations 
than those of the ' Endowments.' My life, and above all, my 
peace of mind, is of but little value at the best. You think 
you suffered too much the night I left you alone with the 
wolves, but I would gladly have exchanged places with you ; 
for your sufferings ended with the appearance of daylight, 
while mine continue, as an evil conscience always will, to 
haunt me still. I try to believe, and I generally do, that the 
Prophet can pardon all our crimes, as he tells us he can, and 
will, when committed in the service of the Church. And yet 
I recollect, when very young, of being taught that evil should 
never be done, that good may come of it. And although I 
know the * mission ' of our Prophet is later than that of Jesus 
Christ, yet I cannot at all times feel justified in crime, though 
it be in defence of the Church, or the preservation of the 
saints. I sometimes wish that murder, and spiritual wife- 
ism, were not necessary to the success of Mormonism. We 
will go to Missouri ; but, Nettie, you must recollect, it will be 
useless to attempt an escape, or expect me to, or to hold any 
conversation upon religious subjects with the Gentiles." 

I was greatly disheartened at what he had said, because 
the idea, that I could not, if I chose, abandon Mormonism, 
was entirely new to me. We set out within a few days, and 
when in Mercer county, Wallace found a place to work, at 
good wages, with a large and able farmer. I took a distric 4 
sckpol near by, and boarded where Wallace worked. Aftei 
so many hardships, I was really happy and contented during 
our stay here. Wallace was very kind, but would not allo^ 
me to be intimate with any one, but wished me, when out o' 



Among the Gentiles. 85 

school, to remain in my room until he returned from his 
work, and then we would take walks alone in the woods and 
fields. The country was sparsely settled, and the inhabitants 
were large and very wealthy farmers, mostly from the South, and 
were very kind to us. The name of Wallace's employer was 
Samuel Porter. Mrs. Porter treated me very kindly, as did 
her sister Mrs. Duncan, and her daughter Mary Jane. The 
latter was married during the summer to Saul Litton. They 
all made me a great many presents, and should this book 
come to their notice, they will undoubtedly recollect me ; and 
I take pleasure in making this grateful mention of them, as 
their attention to me was of that kindly and delicate nature t 
rarely met with, except among truly well-bred people. Theii 
kindness was the more appreciated, as I had been accustomed 
only to the rude habits of cur people. 

These ladies offered me a home if I did not wish to return 
to the Mormons, which I would gladly have accepted if I had 
deemed it safe for them and myself to have done so. 

I had had some conversation with them on the subject of 
religion, notwithstanding my husband wished to prevent it , 
and though it was not generally known we were Mormons, they 
knew our history. Oh ! how often afterwards, when camping 
out upon the bleak prairie, or suffering from hunger, or cold, 
or the imprisonment of Salt Lake, have I thought of the 
agreeable summer spent in their society, and wished, oh ! how 
bitterly, I too had received a Christian education, and had 
been free and untrammelled to do right. 

Late in the fall I closed my school, and we prepared to 
return to Garden Grove with the fruit of our earnings. My 



86 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

husband had treated me so kindly, and had so often promised 
to take no more wives, that I believed him, and improbable 
as it was, I returned in the full belief that he would give me 
no more trouble in that way. We took with us provisions 
and clothing sufficient to make us very comfortable for the 
coming winter ; but when we arrived at the " stake," David 
Fulmer directed Wallace to distribute his provisions among 
the destitute families there, to which he submitted with the 
best possible grace, as he dare not refuse, although this left 
us nearly destitute. 

As he was under the necessity of supplying the deficiency 
in some way, he went back to the Desmoines Kiver, in Iowa, 
with Isaac Allred, to raise money and provisions by labor, or, 
as I have reason to believe, by some measures less honorable, 
under the direction of the " Danites," to which clan I believe 
my husband belonged. He left with me a girl by the 
name of Ellinor Persons, to whom I became much attached. 
She was interesting, and became very kind and serviceable 
to me. 

Wallace came back well supplied early in the winter, but 
rendered his return as unpleasant as it otherwise would have 
been agreeable, by making an offer of marriage to Ellinor, 
who was greatly offended, and left us at once. She was a 
noble girl, and like many other Mormon women, rebelled 
against spiritual wifeisni. 

About the middle of the winter we heard from Wallace's 
father. In the confusion of leaving Nauvoo, we had become 
separated from him, as we had from my own family. His 
father was a* Council Bluffs, arid hearing we were at Garden 



Among the Gentiles, 87 

Grove, sent Thomas, one of his sons, for us witt a team. I 
had heard nothing as yet from my mother, or from any of 
my family, and I was glad to go to any place that promised 
to bring me nearer them. 

We started with Thomas in the middle of January, and 
had a very cold journey. We arrived at Council Bluffs at 
the end of two weeks, where we were well received by my 
father-in-law and his family. They lived about one mile from 
the main " stake," which was called Kanesville. This was 
the head-quarters of Mormonism at that time. The Prophet 
was there, and unnumbered hosts of Mormons were going and 
coming — some forming new " stakes " ahead, or further to the 
north or south, and others going on to people them ; while 
others still were going on to the far West, to spy out a local- 
ity for a permanent home for the Saints. It was yet as un- 
certain what direction this vast horde would take, as it might 
be where a swarm of bees just upon the wing would hive. 
Scouts were sent iu every direction, and were returning daily 
with various reports, and with conflicting recommendations. 
All was yet uncertain, as the Prophet had not yet spoken. 
The " oracle " was silent, but would speak in due time, and 
when the revelation should come, the masses would move. 
In the mean time, the Prophet's ears were ever open for in- 
formation of some goodly land, far off and well protected 
against " Gentile " intrusion, where he could hive the swarm- 
ing hordes of his people, which an uninterrupted emigration 
and the swift reproduction of spiritual wifeism were gathering 
about him at Kanesville. 

Those who remained at the " stakes " were busily emploved 



88 FiFrEEN Years among the Mormons. 

in raising grain for present use, and to lay up in store for the 
coming masses, while many, whose " talents " fitted them for 
the service, were sent back to Missouri, and other poinls in 
the States, to buy horses and cattle, and other property with 
il bogus " money, or to procure them as best they could. 
This service was mostly performed by the " Danites." 

I was glad to hear once more from my mother and family, 
which I did at this time. It appears they had arrived at 
Kanesville the previous summer, and had joined a " stake n 
further north, on the Running Water River, and from there, 
had moved to Weston, Missouri, where they were supposed 
to be still. I was anxious to see them, but as I was about to 
become a mother again, it was impossible for me to under- 
take such a journey. I had never felt so much the need of 
my mother as at this point of my life, for I saw that which 
convinced me that Wallace was about to take another wife. 



More Wives. 89 



CHAPTER IX. 



MORE WIVES, 



In order that my readers may have no diftculty in ud ier- 
standing the true position of the parties referred to in this 
chapter, and other parts of this book, I have to state, that 
among the Mormons the act of " making love," as it is 
termed, is not confined to the male portion of the Church, but 
that every unmarried woman has the same right, and she is 
expected to exercise it with the same freedom as the opposite 
sex, with this difference : that while the female is at liberty to 
decline an offer of marriage made by a man, he is not at 
liberty to decline an offer coming from a woman, against 
whose ability for child-bearing there rests no well grounded 
doubt, except it may be the single exception, which no Mor- 
mon of spirit would be likely to plead in bar of matrimony, 
viz. : that he has already more wives than he can support. 
Hence it will be seen the husband may be placed in an un- 
pleasant position by the system of double wifeism as well as 
the wife, whenever the enamored fair ones may choose to take 
advantage, in earnest, of this continuous leap-year. And this 
they often do, without incurring the suspicion of immodesty. 
It seldom occurs, however, if indeed it ever does, that the 



90 Fifteen Teaks among the Mormons. 

subjects of such proposals, made by lady lovers, consider 
themselves " persecuted ;" but it oftener happens that they 
take advantage of this liberty among the unmarried women 
to justify themselves within the home circle for bringing 
home another wife. 

We had been at Kanesville but a short time, when I 
learned one day from Wallace that Harriet, the girl he at- 
tempted to marry at Garden Grove, was living with her 
father near us, and still unmarried. 

This gave me great uneasiness, as I saw he had not given 
up the idea of marrying her One night he came home, 
and said he had been to see Harriet, that while passing 
her father's house she had called him in, and claimed her 
right of marriage under the principle explained above. In 
short, had " proposed " in form, and threatened to report him 
to the Heads of the Church if he did not submit to her rea- 
sonable demand. 

Wallace sat down by me, and expressed great concern, that, 
as I was about to be sick, the excitement of his marriage would 
have a dangerous influence upon me. He said, " I dare not 
refuse to marry her ; the Prophet will take away my license 
(as preacher), and may be my head. Besides, it is time you 
had given up these jealous notions. You shall always be 
mistress here, and Harriet as your servant, and it will make 
no difference in my attachment to you, or in your rights. 
You must some day submit, and it will be as easy now as 
ever." 

I rejected his cruel reasoning with what force of woman's 
wit and will I could, and backed these, in the end, bv tears. 



More Wives. 9i 

f refused to receive another wife into the house, and I think I 
should haze prevented it if no one else had interfered with us ; 
but it is impossible for a Mormon man with one wife to 
escape from the ridicule of his associates. The next day 
Wallace was telling some of them what I had said, and they 
laughed at him beyond measure. Some of them said their 
first wives had talked in the same way, but came into the 
arrangement when they found they must. They told him he 
had nothing to do but to take home his new wife when I was 
confined, and by the time I was well again he would find me 
reconciled. Wallace accordingly told me he had concluded 
to bring Harriet home the next day. He said, " I have 
waited longer than any other man in the Church would have 
done for you to become satisfied." And when I told him I 
thought it would kill me if he did,, he replied, " Then you 
will die a martyr, and shall wear a martyr's crown." 

It was too horrible. I was put to bed immediately, and 
when I was again conscious of passing events, they told me 
my child was dead — that its mother's agony had crushed 
back its little breath before it saw the light. It was some 
time before my overtaxed and exhausted frame rallied suffi- 
ciently to enable me to comprehend the exact state of my 
household. I soon discovered that Harriet was present, and 
although she did not presume to approach me, I compre- 
hended she was anxious to treat me kindly, and wished 
to appease my resentment. It was not many days before I 
understood, and how I hardly knew, that she occupied a bed 
within reach of mine, with Wallace. One morning, when I 
had just opened my eyes, after a calm sleep, which had 



32 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

restored my clouded mind to a clear self-possession, and I waa 
feeling the keenest pleasure in bathing my hand in the warm 
sunlight which streamed within my reach under the half- 
drawn window-curtain, my eye fell upon them — upon Wal- 
lace and Harriet, in the bed near me, apparently just awake. 
I think I must have glared upon them wildly, for Wallace 
was frightened, and when I fell back with a groan after find- 
ing myself too weak to rise, he put his hand upon my head, 
from his place beside Harriet, for he was so near me as that, 
and said, " Poor, poor Ettie, I am afraid she will never sub- 
mit to the will of the Prophet. This doctrine will kill her" 
I mustered what strength I could, and moved beyond his 
reach to the further side of the bed, and turned my back upon 
them without a word. From that time I closed my eyes to 
their movements — I would not see them. I was too weak to 
contend against numbers, and I could not submit. I sternly 
strove to calm myself, and I succeeded. T was determined 
not to die a martyr." 

Harriet was greatly humbled and disappointed. She 
attempted to put herself right with me ; she said one day to 
me, ** how can you feel so ? I do not towards you. I acknow- 
ledge you as first here, and expect to be second to you in 
Eternity." She said many other things, I do not care to 
repeat here. I recovered slowly but surely, and was about the 
house much sooner than I expected. 

When I felt equal to the effort, I took occasion to test my 
influence with Wallace. I asked him if he would take me to 
Weston, where my mother was supposed to be. He asked 
me if I would come back, I told him not at once, as I wished 



More Wives. 93 

to remain awhile. We had a long conversation jpon the sub- 
ject. Harriet was present ; I had as yet never recognized her 
as being in the house. She made some remark to Wallace, 
to which I replied by asking her what business she had with 
my husband. This turned the conversation upon her ; and I 
took occasion to administer to her, what force of ridicule I 
could command. She was soon in tears, I pitied the poor; 
girl, but did not spare. Wallace attempted to interfere, for 
Harriet's protection, with but small comfort to her. As a 
compromise, he agreed, as soon as I was well enough to ride, 
he would take me to Weston. 

I was anxious to get away, and the next week we started. 
Wallace procured his father's horse and buggy, which for 
that country, was a very comfortable arrangement. Although 
I was better prepared to receive medical treatment, than 
to undertake such a journey, we started. Our course was 
down the left bank of the Missouri River, I soon repented my 
folly in making the attempt. We had not gone far when I 
began to feel uncomfortable, and grew sicker every moment 
we advanced ; till at the end of twenty miles, I began to 
vomit. There was no house near, and Wallace selected a 
favorable place, by a small streamlet, in a pleasant wood, for 
an encampment. Taking me out of the buggy, he arranged 
the seat, and buffalo skin, in such a manner that I could lie 
down. He then gathered wood, and built a fire, and made 
me some tea, this revived me very much, and I ate some 
crackers, and was very comfortable. 

He then prepared to spend the night, by securing his horse 
near by, and feeding him with some grain we had with us, 



94 Fifteen Tears among the Mormons 

and getting together a good quantity of wood. As we had 
taken the forethought to bring provisions and blankets, we 
made a very comfortable night of it. In the morning I felt 
much better. We were now quite in doubt, whether to re- 
turn or go on. Wallace was anxious to go back ; urging 
that I needed rest and quiet, before I could perform the 
journey. I was forced to admit this was perhaps true. 
On the other hand, I was the more anxious to advance. This 
was the second time I had set out to find my mother, and I 
could not bear the thought of riding twenty miles back, how- 
ever hard it might be to go forward. 

We therefore broke up camp, and journeyed on. I soon 
found I was growing worse. I recollect that my head began 
to ache, and finally a high fever set in; And I have but 
little more remembrance of what passed. At intervals, I 
was conscious of riding, and jolting onwards, and then all was 
lost to me. 

Wallace, as he afterwards said, saw the necessity of hurry- 
ing on to some house. How far it might be to one, he had 
no means of knowing. Towards night, he arrived at the 
Nishnebatona River, a branch of the Missouri, coming from 
the north east. There was a ferry kept there by a family 
living on the other side. The place was known as Allen's 
Perry. It was spring, and the streams were high ; but after 
some delay, we were ferried over, and he applied to the family 
to take care of his wife. He drove up to the door, and his 
summons was answered by my brother Howard, of whose 
whereabouts we had heard nothing since our separation at 
Nauvoo. Howard, who kept the ferry, and Martha his wife, 



More Wives. 95 

were greatly moved at finding me ; especially as I was unable 
to recognize them. The delirium left me the next day. I 
had fallen into a calm sleep near morning : and when I awoke 
I found my brother and Martha near me. I was very near 
going mad again, before I understood where I was, and how I 
came there ; and when I fully comprehended that I was safe, 
and with my own family once more, I was very happy. 

My first inquiry after regaining my self-possession, was for 
my mother, whom I had not noticed among my friends. I 
had suffered so much myself, and had so often barely escaped 
death since my separation from her, that I felt an undefined 
fear that she might have fallen a victim, in her old age, to 
this cruel migration ; and I dreaded to make the inquiry. 
But I was soon happily relieved from further apprehension, 
by learning she was, as we had heard before, at Weston, 
Missouri, and was well. This gave me great joy. Howard 
and Martha were yet looking upon me in astonishment. 
"How much the child has changed," said Howard, "she was 
so young and joyous and healthy. What a wreck ! Can 
this be the fruit of Mormonism ? Nettie, has Wallace misused 
you." 

I made no reply. My mind turned to the dark past, as to a 
horror, a bare mention of which might bring it back to me 
again. I shuddered with such evident fear, that Howard saw 
>he necessity of dropping the subject; and Martha hovered about 
me, with such kindly and soothing attention, that after giving 
me some gruel, and bringing some tea, which I tasted ; I was 
soon dozing pleasantly, though but half asleep I tried to 
keep enough awake, to enjoy my new sense of security My 



96 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

whole soul, unbent its overworked energies ; and all my senses 
nestled themselves into quiet rest. Not an unconscious sleep, 
but a recuperative unknitting of the mental and physicial 
forces. I fain would have existed always thus. My youth, 
and flexible constitution, which, though quick to bend, was 
loth to break, had triumphed, and I needed but this continued 
quiet, to brace me up again ; perhaps for an equally bitter 
future. I gathered from the whispered invectives in which 
Martha from time to time indulged against Wallace, that I 
had been talking in my delirium of him, and of Harriet, and 
of spiritual wifeism. 

Wallace soon came in, and asked if I was better ; and as 
Martha would not answer him, I replied to his question, and 
he came to the bed. He asked me if I had been telling 
Martha about Harriet. He appeared very penitent, and 
begged I would overlook the past. He promised to go for 
my mother and sister Lizzie, which he said he could do in 
a little over a week; I urged him to do so. I had been 
separated from them now over two years. 

He set out the next morning for Weston, and I waited his 
return with the greatest anxiety. After a few days, when I 
was somewhat restored, I had a long talk and a full under- 
standing with Howard as to my past suffering, and its connec- 
tion with Mormonism. I told him all. Howard was a con- 
scientious Mormon. 

After listening to me with great patience, and thinking the 
matter over for a long time, he said, "Mormonism is true. 
Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, else how did he heal 
my broken leg; awl how was my mother healed? How 



More Wives. 97 

have others been healed, and how have his prophecies been 
fulfilled? Your husband has not done right. This is not 
Mormonism." 

"But," said I, "Wallace has obeyed ' counsel.' David 
Fulmer, President of the Stake, has counselled him to steal 
and rob ; and he has stolen and robbed. Fulmer has coun- 
selled him to take another wife, and he has taken one." 

"But," said he, "you will find when you see Brigham 
Young, that Mormonism differs from that. It is not true that 
such crimes are countenanced by the Church." 

I am satisfied that at that time Howard would have de- 
nounced Mormonism, had he known to what it was leading. 
I am equally satisfied he has since known of the existence 
not only of these crimes, and their practice by direction or 
"counsel," as it is called, of the Prophet; but has actually ac- 
knowledged the spiritual wife doctrine, by attempting to take 
another himself; which, up to the time I left Salt Lake, Martha 
had prevented by driving the "new wife" out of the house. 

Wallace returned from Weston without my mother. It 
was impossible for her to come and see me; but she was 
well ; and had my sister Lizzie with her, as also my youngest 
brother Uriah. My brother George and sister Sarah had 
both fallen victims to the hardships of the migration, and 
were both dead ; while William had gone with the Mormon 
Battalion * to fight for the United States in Mexico, and 

* The raising of this battalion by the Mormons, at the requisition 
of the United States Government, was, at the time, and has been 
since, greatly lauded, as an act of patriotism, often cited as an evi- 
dence of Mormon loyalty and good faith. As to which see a well 

5 



98 Fifteen Years among tee Mormons. 

whether yet alive or not, was at this time unknown to my 
mother. We soon after heard of his death. 

This was the first full and certain intelligence I had 
received from the family, since our terrible separation at 
Nauvoo. It was certain two had fallen, and how many more 
of us were to be overborne by the demands of Mormonism 
upon us, and its increasing hardships, the future alone could 
reveal. We now for the first time fully realized the sacrifices 
we had made for the Church. Our family was widely scat- 
tered, and falling victims 3 one by one, in different localities, 
yet none bethought him, that Mormonism was a delusion. 
Wallace represented my mother as mourning the fate of he? 
family, and the loss of her fine property, yet clinging to her 
belief in the Prophet and his teachings, as implicitly as she 
did the day she was restored to hearing. 

Wallace had promised my mother that he would take me 
to Weston as soon as I was able to ride, and the prosject 
of seeing her cheered me and hastened my recovery. Of 
course he did not tell her how he had treated me, or that he 
had taken another wife. 

written and appreciative article, entitled "The Mormons," pages 
615-16 of Harper's Magazine for April, 1853. 

Bat Elder Hyde has let us into the secret of this apparent loyalty 
to the Government, at p. 143 of his book, in the following graphic 
lines. Speaking of the aims of the Mormon leaders, he says : 

" Their design they desire to, cloak under a sham patriotism. The 
United States offered $20,000 bounty money, and Brigham recruited 
a regiment; persuaded, commanded them to leave their families, 
many of them perfectly destitute, and join General Scott's army then 
in Mexico, and they obeyed" 



Moke Wives. 99 

About a week after this, Wallace asked me, in presence of 
Howard, when we should go home, and Howard replied that 
he could go home whenever he chose, but that I was not 
going with him. Wallace asked me if that was so, and I 
told him I could not go then, if for no other reason than that 
I was not strong enough yet ; what I should do after that, I 
could not say. Wallace, therefore, returned to Council 
Bluffs without me, and I was left with no care upon my 
hands but my health ; which was slowly improving. And 
yet, as I had not given up my husband entirely, the reflection 
that he had returned to Harriet, and that she had him all to 
herself, at times annoyed me. I sometimes felt I was willing 
to give him up, and tried to convince myself I had done so. 
But only those who have been similarly situated can appreci- 
ate my position. 



100 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 



CHAPTER X. 

RECONCILED FINDING MY MOTHER. 

Another month elapsed before we heard again from Wal» 
lace. I had nearly recovered once more my accustomed 
tone of health, and life was no longer a burthen to me. If 
my readers will recollect that at this time I was Jess than 
eighteen years of age, they will not be surprised that a strong 
constitution, and a naturally buoyant temperament so soon 
triumphed over the ills of the past ; and I trust my youth 
and my attachment as a wife, may be deemed a sufficient 
explanation of the course I afterwards pursued in relation to 
my husband. 

One dark and rainy night, just as the family were prepar- 
ing for bed, Wallace knocked at the door. Howard opened 
it, and seeing who it was bid him come in. 

I knew his rap almost by instinct, notwithstanding I was 
determined not to recognize him as my husband. And yet 
some secret impulse told me, that his appearance at such 
a time, was an evidence of returning good faith on his part ; 
and my woman's heart secretly, and in spite of my resolution, 
applauded this act of devotion to me. I felt that could I 
but know he had given up Harriet, I would gladly receive 



Reconciled — Finding my Mother. 101 

him back; and then the dark cloud of the fast intervened 
and scaled my lips. When Howard asked him to come in, 
Martha said, u If he does, I will go out, the trifling scamp. 
Let him go back to his spiritual mistress. He cannot come 
here." 

I said not a word. My heart and my judgment struggled 
in opposition for the mastery. "Wallace stood at the door, 
the most forlorn object I had ever seen. He was dripping 
wet, with the rain still beating upon him. It was one of 
those cold, chilling storms, which are liable to come any 
time of the year, creeping into the very bones, which had 
found bim unprepared, as he had no overcoat. Howard 
faltered about admitting him, and as I did not interfere, he 
turned to Martha, and said, " I think this man is not as bad 
as we supposed. It is this Mormonism that has made the 
trouble ; it is hard on women at the best." 

" And harder still on the men, unless they are like ada- 
mant," said Wallace. 

" What shall we do ?" asked Howard of Martha. 

Wallace then said partly to me, " If we are to separate, 
I think it necessary to talk it over, and have matters fully 
understood. I should like to see Ettie alone." 

Howard then told him he could go into the front room, 
and say to me what he wished, and that he must then leave, 
to which Martha tacitly consented. I accordingly went with 
him. He was greatly distressed. I asked him as to Harriet. 
He protested he had not seen her since I had ; and said he 
never intended to leave me for her. He gave every evidence 
of sincerity. Finally, he said, " I wish to know if you intend 



102 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

to return with me. I will ask you to live with me no longer 
than I treat you well ; and when I get another wife, you 
shall be free to go. I have abandoned Harriet fcrever, and 
will take no other wife. Mormonism shall not separate us 
a^ain." 

How could I refuse to accept his promises ? I did accent 
them, and engaged to go back to Council Bluffs with him 
the next morning; I pitied and believed him. All I had 
ever asked at his hands w T as that he should abandon his 
spiritual wifeism ; otherwise, I was content with him. He 
had not eaten a mouthful since morning, and I offered to get 
him some supper, but he refused to accept jt, and said he 
would not eat in the house. He then left me. 

There was but one other house near, and this afforded him 
the only hope of getting in for the night. Strange as it may 
seem, his present suffering endeared him still more to me ; 
and I fain would have protected him from further exposure 
to the storm, if he had allowed me to make his peace with 
Martha. 

Martha was a good and kindly woman, w r hen excited by 
no wrong that was crying for redress; but she had a soul 
of greatness, and a will of iron. I take pleasure in making 
this mention of her, as she was of great service to me after- 
wards in Salt Lake, and I would do anything in my power 
to assist her to escape from the cruel bondage she is suffer- 
ing in common with all Mormon women there. 

"Wallace left the house without speaking to tha other 
inmates, giving Martha, as she said afterwards, a look of 
defiance. 



.Reconciled — Finding my Mother. 103 

I awoke the next morning early, and joyously made ar- 
rangements for the journey. When I told Martha I was 
about to leave her, and try Wallace once more, she was out 
of all patience with me, and said I could not fail to regret it, 
but added, after a moment's reflection, as if she thought she 
had said too much, " After all, I must acknowledge he is 
good-looking, and I am sorry I can offer you no greater 
encouragement/' 

Howard said nothing, as he had before advised me not to 
go with him. I was ready for a start when Wallace came, 
as I knew it would embarrass him if he was delayed, as he 
was not on speaking terms with the household. Howard 
and Martha wished us well, and we set out in good spirits. 
It was fine weather, and the going excellent, and we arrived 
about three o'clock in the afternoon at the only house be- 
tween the Nishnebatona and Council Bluffs. We therefore 
put up for the night; we had driven about twenty miles. 
The place was off the road in a very pleasant location, and 
was occupied by an old man and his wife, who entertained 
us in a very acceptable manner. After a late dinner, we 
took a walk up the- stream, which is known as Key Creek, 
Wallace taking his rifle. We found the game plenty, and 
were very successful. I shot two squirrels and, among other 
things, Wallaae shot a wild turkey. 

While dressing the next morning, Wallace accidentally 
left his belt in my room ; it was the one he wore around his 
body under his clothing; which I examined without his 
knowing it, and found it to contain about three hundred dol- 
lars of bogus money. This did not surprise me, as I had sus- 



104 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

pected it before, and I knew the authorities of the Church, 
if they did not manufacture it themselves, directed it to be 
done by others 

We had a fine breakfast of the game killed by us the even- 
ing previous, and as we had ample time to get home that 
day, we concluded to have another hunt, as this was a favor- 
able locality for it. "Wallace borrowed a horse of the old 
gentleman, and I rode our pony, and we had a fine ride on 
horseback over the prairie, and through the timber that 
skirted the banks of the creek. It seemed to me that I had 
just escaped from a long confinement in some pent up town. 
The open sky, and pure breath of the prairie, and the mellow 
sunlight, cheered my glad soul, now free from anguish. 

I shot at a prairie wolf, and wounded it, which we after- 
wards ran down, and Wallace captured it. This closed our 
hunt, and at eleven o'clock we continued our journey. We 
arrived at home in good time that night. 

The discovery I had made as to the bogus money in the 
belt of Wallace, sharpened my curiosity, and I took occasion 
to watch his movements and all connected with him. I 
made it convenient, as I had an opportunity a few days after 
this, to question Joseph Young, brother of the Prophet, about 
it. I commenced by telling him I thought he had given 
WaMace more than his share of bogus money. The men 
who had the management of such matters were generally 
very cautious about telling the women of t. Brother Joseph, 
thrown off his guard, replied, 

" Did he get me a span of horses ?" 

I told him I did not know but he bought one for himsel£ 



Reconciled — Finding my Mother. 105 

" Yes, yes," said brother Joseph, thinking I knew all lbout 
it, as some of the wives of the Prophet did ; " he can u-Al the 
bogus any time to the Missourians, if he wishes, an 1 they 
cannot detect us. If they do, we shall soon be beyond their 
reach. We must help ourselves this year to a good outfit for 
crossing the plains ; and, next spring and summer, we shall 
be off and beyond their reach, and they can whistle." 

I thus ascertained positively what I had long suspected. 
I went home knowing that my husband was a thief and a 
counterfeiter, if not something worse than either ; but I could 
not believe the great body of the Church had endorsed all 
these crimes ; the very enormity of them seemed to prove it 
impossible ; and yet, individuals high in the confLIence of 
the Prophet had, in more than one instance, not GiJy recog- 
nized but had counselled these practices. 

My life at this time passed very pleasantly, wheu not em- 
bittered by thinking upon what I knew to be the employment 
of my husband. Our house was the resort of what was called 
the best society in the Church, and was enlivened by plays 
and dancing parties, for which the Mormons, as a community, 
are greatly distinguished. These are recommended to keep 
up the spirits of the women and, perhaps, to drown the recol- 
lection of crimes among the men. But it is proper I should 
say that, whatever is approved by the Prophet is not regarded 
as a crime. I was determined, for myself, to put up with 
everything but spiritual wifeism ; and, as long as Wallace 
did not bring home another wife I was consent. 

One day, soon after this, a man came to our house, who 
was unknown to me, and had a .ong conversation with Wal- 

5* 



106 Fifteen Years among the Moemons. 

lace. The subject of their interview seemed to be one of 
great importance and secresy. After the stranger had leftj 
Wallace told me it was necessary for us to move to St. Jo- 
seph, Mo. ; that he was going there by direction, and in the 
service of the Church, and was to keep a boarding-house to 
accommodate the Mormons in that State, doing business dis- 
guised as " Gentiles." 

The reader will not be surprised to know, what 1 soon 
learned to be true, that this " business " was selling bogus 
money, and buying with it various kinds of property needed 
by the Church, and forwarding it to Council Bluffs. 

"We packed up in a short time, and moved to that place, 
where we rented a large dwelling near the Court-house. 
Wallace took with him his sister Abbe, as he said he should 
be gone from home more or less, and he would not ask me 
to stay alone with the kind of company we should have at 
our house. The goers and comers at our boarding establish- 
ment purported to be "Gentiles," from various parts of the 
Union : New Orleans, New York, Boston, and other places, 
en route for California or Oregon, as some of them were ; but 
they were mostly Mormons from Council Bluffs. The latter 
would land in the night from the river, where Wallace would 
meet and bring them to our house, and the next morning 
introduce them as being from some other direction. They 
would, one by one, privately disperse themselves over the 
country to prosecute their unlawful traffic, and generally came 
and went in the night. Our house soon came to be die 
resort of a precious set of rogues ; among whom Wallace was 
quite at home. Horse thieving an J gambling appeared to be 



Reconciled — Finding my Mother. 107 

a part of the regular business of these men, which they had 
reduced to a system. 

The notorious gamblers of this region, among the Gentiles, 
somewhat famed about this time, stood no chance with this 
hand of Mormons ; for while they were professedly strangers, 
they had a system of secret signs by which they were under- 
stood by each other, and they could thus play into the hands 
of their friends unsuspected. 

The horses, and other booty purchased or stolen, was Tor- 
warded at once to Kanesville, and was there received by Or- 
son Hyde, who, after assorting it, forwarded it on to the plains, 
or made such disposition of it as would place it beyond the 
reach of the Gentiles, in case suspicion should be directed to- 
wards them. Orson Hyde is one of the " Twelve Apostles," 
and is often in the States. There are now many persons liv- 
ing by whom these facts can be proved. 

The bogus money used by these men, was mostly made at 
Nauvoo ; but I have heretofore mentioned that the press used in 
its manufacture was taken west, and on to Salt Lake in the 
wagon of Peter Hawse, and was at this time at Kanesville. 
This man, Hawse, is now living on Humbolt River, west of 
Great Salt Lake City. 

Although at this time I was treated kindly by Wal- 
lace, I was not allowed to associate with the "Gentiles," 
or even speak to them. I had no associates of my own 
sex except Abbe ; and forced as I was to know of the crimes 
that were being daily committed under my own roof, I was 
nearly wild with horror, not o^ly with the crimes themselves, 



- 



108 Fifteen Years among the Mormons 

but with the fear of the detection I felt must surely come 
sooner or later. It was generally understood, that if we were 
recognized as Mormons, and our business detected, nothing 
could save us from the mob, which had driven our Church 
from the States a few years previous. Our lives must in that 
oise pay the forfeit. Oppressed with all these fearful embar- 
rassments, I besought Wallace to take me to see my mother, 
who lived but thirty miles from us. He had promised repeat- 
edly to do so, but first one thing, and then another had pre- 
vented, and now I was not to be put off. "Wallace consented 
to let me go in the stage alone, as his " business " required 
his personal attention at home. He gave me to understand, 
that I would do well to exercise care. Not to associate with 
" Gentiles " during my absence, or make to them, or any one, 
indiscreet disclosures of what I knew. " For," said he, 
"friends of the Church will be near you at all times ;" and I 
found this strictly true. I arrived at Weston about four o'clock 
in the afternoon of the day I left home; and as the stage 
stopped at the door of the hotel, a stranger presented himself, 
and asked if Mrs. Henderson was inside. As I answered to 
that name, he handed me a note from Wallace, as follows : 
"The bearer is my friend, who will take you to your 
mother's." This " friend " took me to a room in the hotel, 
and asked me to remain there until he could get a carriage. 
He very soon returned with one, and set out with me for my 
mother's, who lived, he said, about one mile from the village. 
We at length arrived at a long, low house, at which we 
stopped. It stood upon an elevated spot of ground and near 
the road. I asked my strange conductor if that wa> 



Reconciled — Finding my Mother. 109 

where my brother and sister died. EU said, he presumed it 
was, as my mother lived there. What a tumult of new emo- 
tions ! I was to find once more my mother, after so king a 
separation ; but I was not to find my sister, nor brother with 
her ; but Lizzie and Uriah were left. The man called at the 
door, and asked for Mrs. Coray, and when she came, I did 
not recognize the bent old woman as my mother. She was 
prematurely bowed by the hardships of the past ; and not un- 
til we were near each other, was the recognition mutual. 
Lizzie knew me at once, and I was happy once more with 
the loved ones of my childhood. 

None but a child can appreciate the joy I had of pouring 
into a mother's ear the story of my wrongs, and sufferings. 
She wished to know at once if Wallace had taken a " spirit- 
ual " wife ; and I told her all, at least all that concerned my- 
self, and all I dared to tell of the corruptions of the Church. 

My story told, with many tears, and listened to with an- 
guish, and her own hardly the less painful to me, tore all out 
hearts with grief. 

Uriah soon came in, and I found him almost a man, whom 
I had last seen a small boy. It was several days before we 
had a full hearing of each other's experiences. 

When I told mother that I suspected Wallace was a bad 
man, and was engaged in a manner I dare not whisper even 
to her, she asked, u has he been killing Missourians ? I have 
heard something of this. They say some of our Church have 
been seeking revenge upon them ; and that some have suc- 
ceeded in taking it ; but I am not at liberty to tell you. I 
have overheard something that Brigh^m Young should 



110 Fifteen Years among the M )rmons. 

know; and he must know it, or our Church will be regarded 
as a band of thieves and murderers." 

I saw ray mother, like Howard, had full confidence in the 
Heads of the Church, and I began to fall into their way of 
thinking, that when the Prophet understood what had beer: 
done, and what crimes were being practised in his name, 
he would condemn and punish the wrong doers. I was satisfied 
she knew something of which she had given me no hint, and 
I was sure I had not told her all I knew, for I dare not do it. 
My mother would not even yield to the belief, that Brother 
Brigham would in the end approve the spiritual wife doctrine, 
and she would not acknowledge that Brother Joseph ever 
did. 

I found my mother's life had not been entirely free from 
adventure since our separation, as the following story told by 
her will show. 

It appears, as before intimated, that after arriving at Coun- 
cil Bluffs, she had moved, with about fifty other families to a 
" stake " on the Running Water River, to a point some ninety 
miles northwest of Council Bluffs, where they remained one 
winter. This is the home of the Puncah Indians, and is a 
fine open prairie country. They had built a fort on the bank 
of the river, at a point hemmed in by bold bluffs, which clus- 
tered in a sort of circle back and above of the little plain on 
which the dwellings were built. The latter were arranged 
in two rows along the river bank. There was no escape by 
»and from the plain on which the little village stood, except 
up these bluffs, the ascent of which was difficult at the best. 
The water in the river was deep and ran very swift, so swift ; 



Reconciled — Finding my Mother. Ill 

indeed, as to render crossing at this point almost impos- 
sible. 

" One evening," said my mother, " late in the fall, I was 
quietly putting things to rights at home, and the boys were 
yet in the streets, where they had been playing ball until it 
grew too dark to see, when Uriah rushed into the house, say- 
ing, " the bluffs are all on fire." I went to the door, and was 
startled to find our little settlement in the greatest peril. The 
prairies were on fire. The flames, driven by a fierce wind, 
had just arrived at the brink of the bluffs, down which they 
were now tumbling in fearful proximity to our dwellings. We 
were within a semicircle of fire, every moment narrowing to- 
wards the centre, which nothing, to all human appearance, 
could stay, until checked by its arrival at the river. And the 
river, we had no means of crossing, as it was too swift and 
deep. It is impossible to describe the confusion of our little 
community, thus suddenly awakened from calm security to a 
frightful sense of impending destruction, which had burst upon 
us as unexpectedly as it was now inevitable. The first alarm 
vented itself in a wild yell of horror from an hundred throats. 
But even these yells were scarcely audible above the loud roar 
of the approaching flames. A few moments were sufficient 
to bring men and women to their senses, and then a few cool 
men suggested, while all were glad to obey in anything that 
promised succor. . There was not room between the fire and 
the dwellings, or between the latter and the river, to protect 
ourselves in the usual way, by seting the grass on fire and let it 
pass, nor time for either. Some who were sufficiently daring, 
conceived the idea of swimming the river, which was perhaps 



112 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

possible for a few, but of course could afford no relief to the 
women and children, except so far as drowning was better than 
burning. Others proposed to wet blankets and run through the 
flames with these over their persons, which was practicable 
for the strong men, but w r as not to the great mass. 

" The better judgment, and that which prevailed was, not 
to attempt to save the property, except that which could be 
easily moved, but to collect all the inhabitants under the 
bant of the river, which was not high, below where the heat of 
the dwellings would be felt, as there the exposure would be only 
to the heat of the grass, and this could last but a few minutes, 
and then to wet all the blankets and clothing in the river, and 
cover the living mass with these as best we could. 

"This plan it was believed, would save the life of every mem- 
ber of the community, though at the expense of nearly every 
thing else. Preparations were accordingly made at once. The 
women and children were got together, with wet blankets and 
bedding at hand, close to the water's edge, ready for the last 
emergency. Then prayers were hurriedly said ; and astonish- 
ing as it may seem, just then the wind veered a little, and 
then a little more, until it blew down the river, instead of 
driving on to the dwellings. 

" Then every arm was nerved to save the village. The fire 
was already near a few of the buildings, but by great effort 
its further spread was stayed. Several men died a few days 
after, from the excitement and over-exertion in saving the 
dwellings. The blankets already wet were found very service- 
able in protecting the houses. 

" The building containing the powder, was but a few rods 



Reconciled — Finding my Mother. 113 

from the fire at the moment the wind changed ; and thus a 
greater calamity was perhaps averted, as there was consider- 
able powder in it at the time. I soon after left this " stake," 
and came here, as I had learned from this how uncertain 
such a life of isolation might become, under extreme cir- 
cumstances." 

This story of my mother, and others which she told me, 
illustrated how much she had sacrificed to her belief in the 
Prophet, but neither of us then imagined that this was but 
the befifhning of our rough experiences in border life. 



114 Fifteen Years among the Mobmoks. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE FAMILY BROKEN UP. 

I was very happy with ray mother. I was a free and jov* 
ous child again, and my mother said, as I was not yet of age, 
and as Wallace had taken me without her consent, he had no 
right to me now. We had made up our minds not to sepa- 
rate again, and I wrote to Wallace after I had been at homo 
about four weeks, that he need not come after me, as I did 
not intend to return to the " boarding "-house. As soon as 
he received my letter, he came. He arrived at our house 
late at night, and riding up to the door, struck it with 
his whip. I knew it was him at once, and went to the door. 
Without getting off his horse, he asked in a loud, boisterous 
voice, if I was ready to go home. I thought best to treat him 
well, and I asked Uriah if he would put Wallace's horse in 
the barn ; and he replied " yes, and himself too, if he wishes, 
that will be the proper place for both." 

Wallace saw by this that my family knew of his past con- 
duct, and did not attempt to conciliate them. The next morn- 
ing, pleading my promise that I would live with him until he 
took a spiritual wife again, he claimed that I was under ob- 
ligations to go home. I dare not explain to mv mother fully, 



The Family Broken Up. 115 

how matters stood at the boarding-house, and I thought as 
we were still among Gentiles, and did not know what course 
Wallace might take to injure us among them, that I had bet- 
ter return with him, which I accordingly did. 

When we arrived at home, we found the house full of 
boarders — fuller than usual. A mass of goers and comers in 
masks, whose business Wallace knew, and whom I soon learned 
to recognize as Mormons, mingled with innocent strangers, 
ignorant of the risk they ran in coming to our house, 
which, by this time, had acquired a wide reputation as a 
general boarding-house. We had plenty of money, and to a 
degree never before or since known to me, was everything I 
wished at my command. I should have been well contented 
had I not known the character of our customers, and the 
object of our house. Liquors of the rarest brands, and every 
accompaniment of the most costly entertainments, were served 
daily at our table. But I am bound to say in simple justice, 
.hat these luxuries, and facilities for dissipation, were not for 
the entertainment of Mormons, who were for the most part 
men of simple tastes. They were designed to entrap stran- 
gers, and to allure their victims, as well as to call there the 
class of men known as professed gamblers. Wallace, during 
all this time, and while I knew him, was in no way addicted 
to strong drink ; in fact, I never knew of his drinking at all. 

The great body of Mormons were now preparing to move 
on to the west. Deputations had "been sent out, and had 
brought back glowing accounts of the Utah Valley, which 
had been selected as the future home of the saints. Great 
numbers had already gone, and were still going, and my 



116 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

mother had concluded to join the next company, with hei 
family. She therefore found it necessary to go on to Council 
Bluffs immediately, in order to avail herself of the best facili- 
ties for making the journey, as that was the head-quarters of 
the Church, this side the plains. On her way she called upon 
us, and I bid her adieu again — for how long a time I knew 
not. It was a sad thing to part again with my mother, so 
soon after I had found her. If she went on to the valley, I 
could not expect to see her until I had made the same journey 
myself, and I was not sure that I wished to make it. 

After this I became more disgusted than ever with our 
way of life. I went to bed one night, intending to have a 
talk with Wallace when he came. He did not, however, 
come in till near morning, and when he did, I told him I 
could not bear the confusion and wickedness of this kind of 
company any longer. That if he wished to keep boarders, 
there were Gentiles enough he could get to make him a good 
business. But as for the rest, I would expose his villainy if 
longer continued. Wallace said he was in the service of the 
Church, and referred me to the revelation of brother Joseph 
Smith, who authorized the formation of the band of men 
known as " Danites." That it was necessary, in order to pro- 
cure an outfit for the poor " saints," now waiting to go on to 
the valley. That anything that was for the good of the 
Gkurch, was right. I said so much to him, however, that the 
next morning he discharged his Mormon boarders, and thu3 
their head-quarters was broken up ; at least, I saw no more 
of them. I had reason to 'believe that Wallace still cooper- 
ated with them. 



The Family Broken Up. 117 

Wallace came in one day, and said he was going to Jack- 
son county, Mo., upon " business " connected with the Church : 
and as he sat down and counted over a large amount of money, 
which I knew to be "bogus," I was well satisfied as to its 
nature. He named several persons who were Mormons, as 
intending to go with him : and about this time Mr. Mo wry, a 
Mormon from Kanesville brought me a letter from Uriah, say- 
ing my mother was very sick : and that if I wished to see her 
again, I had better come out at once. As Wallace intended 
to be gone some time, he consented to my going. Accordingly 
we both left home : he upon his " mission " to Jackson county, 
ind I for Kanesville, in company with Mr. Mowry and his wife, 
who were on their return. We had a very pleasant journey ; 
Mr. Mowry was an honest Mormon, and believed as I had 
been taught, that when we were all gathered into " Our Zion," 
as Utah, it was said would be to us, all the wrongs of which 
we complained in our present scattered and isolated condition 
would be righted. I firmly believed at this time, that Joseph 
Smith was a Prophet of the Lord, and that Brigham Young, 
as his successor, would not uphold the terrible doctrines now 
advocated by many, but that when all were gathered together 
as it had been foretold, he would rule the Saints in righteous- 
ness. I had made up my mind to rest my faith in Mormon- 
ism upon this ; and when I arrived at Salt Lake, if I did not 
find things as I had expected, I was determined to return to 
the States, and abandon Mormonism. 

Arrived at Kanesville, I found my mother much better, in 
fact, quite out of danger, and also found my brother Howard 
there with his family, with whom mother was living for the 



118 Fifteen Years among the Mcbmons 

time My mother was intending to go on to Fort Karney as 
soon as she was able to travel, and take boarders from among 
the officers of the United States Army there; which she 
afterwards did, taking with her Uriah and Lizzie. 

Wallace having returned to St. Joseph, sent for me, and I 
went home, finding quite a number of Gentile boarders in the 
house. 

A little circumstance happened a few days after my return, 
which, though apparently trivial of itself, yet as it was the 
prelude to a friendship, which years afterwards ripened into 
something more than a passing acquaintance, I deem it pro- 
per to make mention of it here ; although at the time, it made 
so little impression upon my mind, that it would have been 
entirely forgotten, only that subsequent events made it of 
sufficient consequence to be remembered. 

It was Sunday and I was alone in the house, and in my 
own room, which connected with the front hall. I had thrown 
myself upon a large chest under a window, and had fallen 
asleep. The weather was very warm. The sash was thrown 
open, leaving the window, which was closely covered with a 
thick growth of vines, free for the circulation of the air. The 
door leading to the hall was partly open, I do not know how 
long I had slept, when I felt some one touch my hand, and 
supposing it was Wallace, I told him to pull me up, and he 
did so : but what was my astonishment, when I looked up, to 
find in my room, a tall, fine-looking stranger. 

He was under twenty years of age, of engaging address ; and 
apologized by saying, he had just landed from the boat, and 
was looking for a boarding place. That he had noticed our 



The Family Broken Up 119 

sign, and had rapped, but receiving no answer, had stepped 
in, as the door was open. I directed him to the parlor, and 
Wallace soon coming in, he engaged board. He was on his 
way to California, mostly on account of his health. This was 
my first introduction to Reuben P. Smith, who years after- 
wards, at Salt Lake, became my second husband, though at 
this time, it was apparently the most unlikely thing that 
could possibly occur. 

It was not long after my return from Kanesville before I 
began to hear stories from various sources, mostly from Gen- 
tiles, not very creditable to Wallace. 

Although Wallace did not allow me to associate w r ith any 
other women among our neighbors, yet I heard enough to 
convince me my husband was not living up in good faith to 
our mutual understanding of the terms on which I had con- 
sented to live with him again. 

It was currently reported that during my absence he had 
lived with a squaw, who was in the habit of visiting our 
house for food and whatever we had to give her. She was 
young and pretty, and had the prettiest Indian baby I had 
ever seen. 

A Mrs. Robinson, one of our neighbors, called upon me one 
day, and told me frankly what she had heard, and said her 
husband knew some facts which w r ould convince me how the 
matter stood. I was ready to believe almost anything of 
Wallace, but this seemed too monstrous, and especially as it 
had not the sanction of spiritual wifeism to justify it. 

I requested Mrs. Robinson to ask her husband to call, 
which he did, and he gave me such facts, connected with 



J 20 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

others which I knew, as to place the case apparently beyond 
the shadow of a doubt. Wallace was supposed to be the 
father of the Indian girl's pretty baby. 

I was now miserable beyond description. I regretted I 
had not remained with my mother. I was comparatively 
alone, and I felt he was guilty ; but to set the question at rest, 
I arranged a plan which would detect him if it was indeed 
so. This was an easy matter, as the squaw was in the prac- 
tice of coming to the house several times a week. Without 
wearying my readers with details, it is sufficient that I say 
my plan disclosed more than I was willing to know, and 
brought the guilt so home to him, that he acknowledged the 
whole. The Indian girl was his spiritual wife, and her child 
was his. The Indians, he said, were the sons of the Laman- 
ites, recognized by the Prophet. 

The day marked by this discovery ended my relation as 
wife with Wallace Henderson — a day which he no doubt re- 
membered to the end of his life. I told him what he had to 
expect from me, and that the thing was ended. That although 
my family had gone across the plains, that his father had not, 
and he would protect me, as he had repeatedly offered to do. 
He wept like a child. 

I wrote to his father, and told him all I knew of Wallace, 
and I mentioned his connection with the murder of Brown, 
the Gentile, at Kanesville, which will be hereafter referred to. 
I received an answer from his father in a short time, directing 
me to come to his house at once, and bring his daughter 
Abbe. 

T showed the letter to Wallace and his sister, and the for- 



The Family Broken Up. 121 

mer agreed to send us to him. Although I had ms.de up my 
mind fully what to do, I found it hard at last to break off 
forever a relation whic.a, notwithstanding it had been beset 
with continued hardship and suffering, and by that peculiar 
neglect, which is the last offence a woman knows how to par- 
don, yet it had been also mingled at times with joy. 

Wallace was more penitent than I had ever known him 
before, and had I not been in possession of the best possible 
evidence within my own knowledge, the relation would have 
been still more difficult to sunder ; and if, during the most 
trying periods of it, I faltered, I had but to remind myself of 
his squaw spiritual. 

Henry Woodard at this time ran a stage from St. Joseph 
to Kanesville, and arrangements were made with him by 
Wallace to take us. Reuben P. Smith, before mentioned, 
who had until now been a boarder with us, was one of the 
passengers. Before we left, Wallace explained to him that 
the relation of husband and wife no longer existed between 
us, and the reasons for it, saying that it had been his fault, 
that he had lost a good wife by his own folly, but that he had 
supposed as I w*as young I would always put up with it, and 
at parting asked Smith to take Abbe and myself under his 
care until we arrived at his father's. Smith had concluded to 
go on to California, and w r as going first to Kanesville to join, 
if possible, some of the Mormon companies which were to 
cross the plains the next spring. Two Mormon women were 
also in the stage. They were the wives abandoned by Wil- 
liam Smith, brother of the " Prophet " Joseph. It will be 
recollected that -William claimed he should have succeeded 

G 



122 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

his brother Joseph as Prophet, and when his claim was re- 
jected by the election of Brigham Young, he apostatized, and 
taking his lawful wife, left to live with her among the Gen- 
tiles. These two were his other wives, now on their way to 
join the " Saints " at Salt Lake. Elizabeth Pratt was also a 
passenger, bound for the same place. She was a daughter of 
Anson, and a niece of Orson Pratt, the latter being one of the 
Apostles. It will thus be seen that, including the driver 
Woodaid, our party consisted of two men and five women. 



The Parting — Crossing the Tankio 123 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE PARTING CROSSING THE TANKIO. 

The morning of our departure from St. Joseph was dark 
and rainy — a fitting accompaniment to our act of separation. 
The wind sighed and sobbed in mournful harmony with my 
own sadness, and the clouds wept as if in sympathy with my 
full heart. The highest convictions of right are not always 
sufficient to make the performance of duty easy to us. At 
the moment of starting, Wallace begged me not to go ; and 
when he saw I could not be moved from my purpose, he 
asked Smith to befriend me during the journey. 

The stage was a covered omnibus, well adapted to our pur- 
pose. We drove fourteen miles, and halted for dinner near 
Savannah, at a farmhouse. I could not eat. Abbe went to 
the table, and returned to find me crying, and sat down by 
me and wept also. She was a good girl, little younger than 
myself, but much younger in heart and in life's rough ways. 
She held my head, and we sobbed together, and her sym- 
pathy gave me comfort. She said, " My father will protect 
you, and be a father to us both." 

Mr. Smith came in and told us that on account of the 
storm, which was increasing, we should not be able to go on 



124 Fifteen Yeaks among the Mormons 

that afternoon. This appeared a special misfortune to me. 
To be shut up by gloomy weather, with my own gloomy 
soul, to brood upon a woe already too great to bear, seemed 
beyond the limit of my soul's patience. Such an accumula- 
tion of disagreeable elements, from its very intensity, had the 
effect, as it often will, of inducing sleep, and when I awoke 
near night, I was much improved, and was able to take some 
supper. 

Abbe and I had a comfortable bed, and we slept well. The 
next morning was fair and pleasant, and I began to feel the 
joyous spring of life stir within my soul once more. I was very 
much interested during our day's drive, with the history the 
two wives of William Smith gave of themselves. Their 
names were Lucinda Curtis and Anna Rollins. They were still 
Mormons, and with the utmost simplicity graphically de- 
scribed the arts and deceptions Brother William had used to 
bring them to submit to spiritual wifeism, and to keep it 
secret, as at that time at Nauvoo it was not publicly acknow- 
ledged, or practised even, except by the heads of the Church. 
They were both young girls, and their story was heart-rending, 
as every Mormon woman's would be if known. 

We had a pleasant dinner by the way-side, under a large 
tree, which spread its branches over us, as it had often before 
protected weary travellers by its shade, and that night put up 
at a small log cabin, the only accommodation within our 
reach. We found here but one bed for us all, which by com- 
mon consent Abbe and I occupied. 

The next day we pushed on without accident until we 
arrived about sundown at the river Tankio. Contrary to our 



The Parting — Crossing the Tankio. 125 

expectations, we found the water very high by reason of the 
late rains. This was not a wide nor swift stream, but was 
deep, and was crossed at this point by a wooden bridge The 
banks being low, they were now overflown to such a degree 
that the river was more than a mile wide, and had the ap- 
pearance of a vast lake, covering the bridge entirely, thus 
rendering its exact locality uncertain. Our stopping-place 
for the night was on the other side of the river, and it became 
very important that we should cross at some rate, for if we 
remained on the side we then were till morning, it would help 
us but little, as the stream being sluggish, it rose and fell but 
slowly, and we might be detained for several days, for which 
we were by no means prepared. 

Woodard, the driver, was a rough, daring man, well 
acquainted with the locality, and well used to adventures — 
for which he had more taste than for the refinements of 
civilized life. His team consisted of three horses — two 
abreast, " and one on the lead," as he called it. It was already 
near dark, and no time was to be lost. We could see 
plainly a large tree, which was known to stand upon the 
bank of the river, at the end of the bridge, and just below 
it. The problem therefore was, to guide the team just to 
the right of that tree, and we should probably hit the 
bridge, if the water had not swept it away, which was not 
likely, as the stream was not swift. A council was called, 
and after a hurried discussion it was agreed to put it to the 
*ote, and let the majority rule. By counting noses, it was 
^>und we stood as follows : of the two men, Woodard waa 
for going on, and Smith was opposed. Among the women, 



126 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

but one was opposed. Then we stood five out of seven foi 
going forward, and this decided the matter, and now thers 
was no time for delay. Elizabeth Pratt voted for the 
adventure, but said she knew we should all be drowned : and 
Lucinda Curtis said she would not go to the trouble of 
saving herself, if she knew she was to go to the bottom, 
as she was sure of being the gainer by drowning ; and I 
think the poor girl was nearly right, with regard to herself, 
and not far wrong as to others of us. 

Woodard mounted the leading horse, and directed me to 
take the lines as I knew the way, having crossed the river 
here repeatedly. He asked Smith to be ready to lend a 
hand in case of accident, as occasion might require. We put 
the horses under way, heading for the supposed locality of 
the submerged bridge. We all felt that to miss the bridge 
was to meet our fate at once — that it was simply a question 
of good guessing, or sure drowning. 

As we advanced, the wrier grew deeper and the daylight 
less. Smith, who sat at my side upon a chest watching the 
chances, asked me if I could swim. I told him I thought 
not, at least I had never tried. He said he thought in case 
of accident he could save three of the women if they would 
trust to him, and probably Woodard would be able to save 
the others ; hence he thought there was no danger. He told 
me to depend upon him. He evidently had no faith in finding 
the bridge; and his cool acquiescence in the will of the 
majority, and that majority made up of women, and all 
against his own judgment, proved not only his generosity, 
but that he was a man of courage. I think when we 



The Parting — Crossing the Tankio. 127 

were once embarked he was really the only self-possessed 
person in the company, and he rose in our good opinion in the 
end as much as he had fallen by his opposition to the rash 
attempt. 

As we neared the tree not a word was spoken. Each 
heart kept its own watch. Just as the leader came nearly 
opposite to the tree, Woodard halted evidently in doubt 
The water was then running over the wagon-box, and there 
was danger of its floating off with the trunks, which were 
swimming loose inside of it ; and among them the women 
were floundering in the greatest confusion, and then set up the 
wildest screams. Tbey all rushed to the front end of the 
stage, in a huddle ; and Smith had much difficulty in pre- 
venting some of them from leaping into the river outright. 

Smith, in no very choice terms, asked Woodard why he 
had halted ; but before he could reply, the leading horse 
answered the question, by going down ; and Woodard, coming 
to his feet, landed, as he fell, upon the upper end of the 
bridge, to which he clung. He had missed the bridge, by 
going a very little too high; but the wheel horses stood 
firm, as if aware of what w r as required of them. I had given 
the lines to Smith, not knowing in my fright what else to do. 
Woodard hurriedly, but coolly, directed Smith to give me 
the lines again, and assist him in cutting the leading horse 
loose ; which he did. When the horse was freed from the 
others it was drawn by tte force of the water under the 
bridge, which was the last we saw of it. It was supposed 
the harness by some means became entangled with the 
underside of the bridge, and it was '*eld there until drowned. 



128 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Woodard now waded on to the end of the bridge, showing 
where to drive. Smith took the lines, drew the team smartly 
back, and then suddenly to the left, cheering them with a 
yell. The generous animals bounded on to the bridge, and 
we were safe, hardly realizing that we were not drowned. 

The water was nearly i foot deep the entire way over ; 
and had the current been swift, or anything like it, this light 
wood structure must have been t^ken off with it. Once on 
the bridge, there was no difficult" 1 in following it over, 
though it was quite dark when we reacv*ed the dry ground on 
the other side. 

We soon arrived at the house of an old man near by, very 
nuch impressed with the belief that we had been within 
feeling distance of a watery grave. The excellent wife of 
our host took good care of us for the night. We built a 
good fire, by which we dried our clothing, not only what 
we had on, but that in the trunks also — for they were full 
of water, and everything w r as wet. 

I think this was the most foolhardy adventure I have ever 
been identified with, before or since ; though more than once 
afterwards I was forced by necessity to look danger in the 
face. But in this case there was really no such necessity : 
and had we been in possession of thirty minutes for reflec- 
tion, we should have slept over it, and saved a horse at 
least. 

Those of my readers who lead the quiet and even lives of 
the settlements, can form but an imperfect estimate of a life 
spent among the continual dangers and exposures of the 
frontiers. Whatever charms such a life may have for rudt 



The Parting — Crossing the Tankio. 129 

and half civilized men, or even for those who frequent the 
prairies and mountains for the gratification of that love of 
the chase, which even in civilized society may not be consi- 
dered unmanly or out of place ; yet I have to say, that as far 
as my own sex is concerned, such adventures are much 
pleasanter in books, than when made by necessity the 
every-day business of a life. At least this has been my expe- 
rience. Born with a strong love of home and family, my 
existence thus far has been a quick succession of changes 
from one danger to another ; and from one wild scene upon 
the prairie, to a wilder adventure by flood ; or among rude 
and unreliable men, until I fain would know the calm joy of 
a home in a quiet land — one where the curse of Mormonism 
has never rested. 

Without further mishap worthy of note, we arrived at 
Kanesville in good time. I found, much to ray regret, that 
my mother and brothers had gone on to New FortKarney. 

We were received by my father-in-law with a cordial 
welcome, and in consideration of the assistance rendered us 
by Mr. Smith, the latter was made equally at home, notwith- 
standing he was not a Mormon. 

My father-in-law looked very grave when he found Smith 
did not belong to the Church, and asked by whose direction 
we were put under the care of a Gentile. 

We told him it was arranged by Wallace, and related to 
him how we were probably indebted to Smith for our safety 
in crossing the Tankio. 

He listened to the story with great interest and serious- 
ness, and then said, "I understand how it is. You are under 

6* 



t&} Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

obligations to this Gentile, and hence he must be well 
treated ; but I wish Abbe to know, once for all, I do not 
wish her to marry or associate with a Gentile ; for, my chil- 
dren, you little know what influence the evil one has over our 
frail bodies." Abbe was greatly amused at this, as she had 
not supposed herself in any degree the object of Smith's 
attention. 

Her father, though a bigoted Mormon, was an honest, 
kindly man ; and we replied to him, that " Smith knew no- 
thing of Mormonism, and that by setting the doctrines fairly 
before him, it was not impossible but he might be converted." 
And Abbe said, " Father were you not a Gentile once ?" This 
ended the discussion, and when Smith came in a short time 
afterwards, he was received cordially. 

In the evening, father asked us about Wallace, and we told 
him all we knew about him, in the presence of Smith. I 
told him I could never live with him again, and that if I 
could avoid it, I did not wish to see him. That I should go 
to my brother's, as soon as I could get to them. That in no 
case would I consent to live with Wallace. I was kindly 
treated by my father's family, and they invited me to make 
their house my home, if I could be contented. 

They did not intend to go to the valley until the following 
year, and wished me to wait and go with them. I was very 
well contented, until one day, standing in the door, I saw 
some one coming, and I soon discovered it to be Wallace. 
I was very much excited, but was determined not to see h!m. 
I therefore went o^ut at the back door, as he came in at the 
front, and went to one of our neighbor's by the name of 



The Parting — Crossing the Tankio. 131 

Derby, who was related by marriage to my brother Howard. 
I soon learned what Wallace w r anted. His father treated 
him very severely, and told him he was not worthy of any 
woman, much less of a young girl, whom he had treated as 
inhumanly as he had me. That it was enough to ruin any 
woman, and that he was ashamed to own him as a son. 

Wallace then left his father's and went to Harriet's, who 
lived near by, and where he remained for several days. He 
then went to Orson Hyde, and stated that I had left him 
because he had married Harriet, and that I would not submit 
to the spiritual wife doctrine. That I had said it was from 
the devil. Brother Orson told him, that according to the 
Gentile laws, I was at liberty to do so, and that I was free 
from him, and he had no remedy. That I was even at 
'iberty to marry again, if I wished. I was then sent for to 
^ome to Orson's house, and I went. When I arrived there 
[ found him at home. He received me very kindly, and said, 
"Sister Ettie, why do you object to living with your hus- 
band ?" I told him I had not time to go into all the circum- 
stances of the case. That I had a great many objections 
That what most interfered with my notions of propriety was 
the way he courted some of the "sisters," especially the 
Indians, by the Mormons known as the Lamanites. That 
Wallace was very anxious to assist in the fulfilment of that 
prophesy of our Prophet, which foretold that these Lamanites 
" should become a white and delightsome people," and that 
he had already commenced the work among them. I told 
him further, that I had other grounds of complaint which 
I did not propose to state then, but that when T arrived at 



132 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

the valley, I should lay them before Brigham Young. Orson 
Hyde said, "The reasons you have given do not constitute a 
lawful excuse for leaving your husband, according to the 
laws of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." 

I then rose up to go, as I did not propose to discuss the 
matter with him. But he stopped me, and said, "You may, 
if you wish, be 'sealed'* to me, and then you know there 
would be no risk to run, in case you should die. Otherwise, 
if by chance you should drop away, having no husband to 
raise you at the last day, you could not be 'resurrected' as 
a saint, and would only be raised like any Gentile, as a 
servant for the Saints, i. e., for the Mormons." 

I was so much disgusted with this proposition, that I left 
him in the most unceremonious manner, in the midst of his 
disinterested effort for my salvation. Orson Hyde was, at 
this time, forty years of age, and had at least three wives, 
and one daughter about my own age. I was then nineteen 
years old. 

I went home to my father-in-law's, and told him what 
Orson Hyde had proposed, and that I had made him angry. 
He made me no reply, evidently thinking the least said about 
a quarrel with one of the Heads of the Church was soonest 
mended. 

Wallace remained some time at Kanesville, and while there 
he lived with Harriet. I did not meet him during the time. 
He at length returned to St. Joseph, and soon after died, aa 
we heard, with the cholera, which was raging fiercely at the 
time. 

* i. e. Married. 



The Parting — Crossing the Tankio. 133 

Although I was sorry to hear of his death, and fully 
pardoned him then for the wrongs he had done me, yet I 
did not, I am willing to confess, mourn for him as one with- 
out hope. I should have been glad to know he died a better 
man than he had lived. Harriet, I understood, mourned him 
with the greatest bitterness. 

I was alone one day in the house, the rest of the family 
being out at the moment, when Mr. Smith called ; I was very 
glad to see him. He had not been in since the day after 
our arrival, and it was like meeting an old friend. He had 
so often given such unmistakable proof of his fair intentions, 
and always so generous and disinterested, that I valued him 
very much. I thought then, and still think him one of the 
noblest of men. He appeared to be somewhat embarrassed ; 
and after a little, mentioned the death of Wallace, and finally 
fell to complimenting me, after a style to which I was alto- 
gether unaccustomed. I recollect among other things, he 
said he had formed a high opinion of me ; and that I would 
be religious if I knew what it was, of course meaning that 
Mormonism was not religion. It is true I felt I ought not 
to listen to anything against Mormonism in my father-in- 
law's house, against his express warning, yet I was sure a 
man of so much honesty of purpose could not wish to do me 
harm, and that it could not be wrong to listen to one whose 
noble bearing, clear intellect, and excellent heart, alike recom- 
mended him to my confidence. He finally astonished me by 
saying, with a good degree of feeling, " I wish, Mrs. Hender- 
son, your happiness was as much dependent upon me as mine 
is upon you." 



134 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

At that moment, I saw my father-in-law comitg to the 
house, and I mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Smith, and 
when he came in, Smith said to him, after passing the usual 
compliments, " Your daughter, Mrs. Aired, wished Mrs. Hen- 
derson, to come over, and make her a visit. I am boarding 
with one of her near neighbors, and shall return to-morrow, 
when, if she wishes, I will take her over." Father replied, 
that the girls had been teasing him to go over with them, 
and if Mr. Smith could take them, it would save him the 
trouble. 

I noticed, with a pleasure that was altogether a mystery 
to myself, that Smith did not appreciate the additional 
number implied by " them" but he said he would call for us 
in the morning. 

Father askea him if he had become a Mormon yet. Smith 
replied, " I know but little about your religion, but there are 
some things in your doctrine that have a show of reason." 

" Perhaps, then," said father, " I may be able to conver' 
you." 

After some conversation of a friendly and conciliatory 
nature, Smith took his leave, evidently having made a favor 
able impression upon more than one of our household ; but 
waking within my own breast sad memories, and a troubled 
and anxious foreboding for the future. I was free to marry 
again if I chose to do so, that was clear, but I would never 
marry a Mormon, and it was certain I should never be 
allowed to marry a Gentile. The idea was entirely new 
to me, but I felt from this day that my future was in some 
way intimately connected with Smith's. I knew we could 



The Parting — Crossing the Tankio. 135 

act marry, at least not then, and I was not fully satisfied 
that I wished to do so under the circumstances. 

There was no mistaking his intentions; and I could net 
deny to myself that, were I free to act untrammelled, it 
would have been my highest pleasure to unite my fortunes 
with his ; yet his was too noble a nature to be sacrificed to 
Mormonism. 

Although I believed in our Church implicitly, for I knew 
no other religion, yet my woman's instinct told me that all a 
woman holds most dear in life was to be sacrificed to a cer- 
tain community of interests, which, though I could not fully 
understand why, had thus far characterized every act and 
feature of the Church ; if I could do no more, I could at 
least save Smith from the blighting evil ; and my soul felt 
itself charged with a high commission w T hen I undertook to 
guard him against Mormonism. 

My conduct may, perhaps, involve a contradiction in this, 
that, while I would not listen to the claims of his religion, 
nor allow him to teach me its principles, I yet warned him 
against the adoption of mine. The fact was, that I believed 
my religion to be true ; but regretted that it was true ; a 
moral and necessary evil to be borne by me, but from which 
I fain would guard any friend. This subject assumed a 
higher importance in my mind, when I judged that the 
strength of the attachment he had exhibited for me, a point 
on which a woman is seldom mistaken, clearly indicated that 
it was even possible for him to accept Mormonism, for the 
purpose of removing all impediments to our union. Thus 1 
found it was likely to happen that, while he supposed tia 



136 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

intellect was approving the claims of our Church, his heart 
would be the real prompter to his belief in our Prophet, and 
this would have been an effectual bar to our marriage, as well 
as a real misfortune to him, foi I had noticed that the spirit- 
ual wife doctrine had the mysterious power of corrupting the 
purest men of our Church. 



Offer of Marriage — Leaving for Zion. 137 



CHAPTER XIII. 

OFFER OF MARRIAGE SETTING OUT FOR " ZION." 

Mr. Smith came in due time the next morning, and found 
as waiting for him. It was a gloomy day in midwinter ; the 
weather was cold, but no snow upon the ground, and the 
road lay mostly through the woods, and was very rough. 
We had about ten miles to drive ; Smith appeared to be 
cheerful and happy, and by various means which Abbe did 
not understand, indicated how much he desired to be alone 
with me, in order to have a full understanding. He asked 
me if I recollected the command, "If your neighbor ask 
your cloak, ye shall give him your coat also ?" by which I 
understood that my father-in-law had granted more than he 
had asked, in sending Abbe with us. But I took occasion to 
say, that it would be more than a Mormon girl's life was 
worth to be seen riding with a Gentile alone. 

We arrived at my sister-in-law T 's in safety. She was glad 
to see us. She had been living alone with her associate 
wives for some time, as her husband was absent on a mission. 
We had a very cheerful and pleasant visit that evening. 

The next morning I went down to the spring, not far from 
the house, which was snugly nestled among the trees, and 
approached by a narrow path winding between smooth rocks 



1.38 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

t was a secluded little fountain of pure water, bubbling from 
Deneath the roots of a large tree, with rocks and trees cluster- 
ing all about it ; a place where one could hide away and be 
content. 

I had been there some time, drinking in the quiet beauty 
of the place, and was just leaving for the house, when I met 
Smith coming to the spring. He said he wished to say one 
word to me alone. I was very much alarmed, and asked 
him if he had never heard the story of the Gentile Brown ? 
He said he had not. I told him I dare not remain with him 
there one moment, not even to tell him the story, as, if we 
were discovered in private conversation, it would be at the 
cost of his life and, perhaps, of mine. I therefore left him 
looking after me in astonishment, and ran to the house, 
where I found breakfast was waiting for me. 

The story of Brown, which I afterwards told him, was as 
follows: the year previous, Orson Hyde was courting another 
wife, by the name of Eleanor Manheart, a very young and 
pretty girl. This Brown, an emigrant, on his way to Califor- 
nia, chanced to get acquainted with Eleanor, and cut the 
" Apostle " out, and proposed to take her with him over the 
plains. But the " Danites v interfered with the arrangement, 
and he was murdered ; and Wallace acknowledged ho assisted 
in burying him under the schoolhouse. Hyde then reported 
the story that Brown had absconded Of course he was 
murdered by direction of Orson Hyde, who very soon after 
married Eleanor, and still has her as one of his wives. I 
know these to be faots, which I learned from Wallace at the 
time. 



Offer of Marriage — Leaving for Zion. 139 

After breakfast, Mr. Smith called to take us home. We 
~ad a long and tedious journey, as it was cold, and one of 
the wagon tires came off repeatedly, and gave Smith a great 
amount of trouble. He was not in good health, and was 
unaccustomed to hardships, until our trip from St. Joseph. 
His object in going to California was mostly to improve his 
health. 

When we arrived at home he was very much fatigued, and 
was covered with mud, and it was with some degree of dis- 
content he said, while washing the mud from his hands and 
face, " I think Mormonism a very uncomfortable religion in 
this world, whatever it may be in the next.'' 

When he was ready to take his leave, he handed me a 
note, while bidding me adieu, which I read after he was 
gone, as follows: 

" Dear Ettie : 

I find it very hard to part with you ; but, unless you 
could abandon your religion, I could not expect to live hap- 
pily with you. But, as I still indulge the hope that you may, 
I shall endeavor to see you again in Utah. I shall, on your 
account, go that way when I go to the mines ; and I expect 
to leave St. Joseph about the 1st of March next. Some busi- 
ness of importance calls me back to that place before I cross 
the plains. 

" I remain, as ever, your faithful friend, 

"R. P. Smith." 

I read this note with the keenest emotions of pleasure and 
pain. I was glad to hear he was not disposed to become a 



140 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Mormon, and glad that there was even a distant prospect of see 
ing him again ; and pained, beyond measure, that the obsta- 
cles to our union now appeared insurmountable, as well as at 
the prospect of parting with him, perhaps forever ; at least, 
for a very long time. Not until he was gone did I fully 
understand my true position, or half the interest I had in him. 

Mormonism taught me that, to love a "Gentile" was 
illicit ; but I looked into my own heart, and while I did not 
discredit my religion, I felt it could not be wrong to remem- 
ber with gratitude the generous and noble conduct of one 
whose motives were above reproach. 

I very soon heard Mr. Smith had left St. Joseph for the 
mines. I was anxious to go on to New Fort Karney, where 
my mother and brothers were. Joseph Young, the brother 
of the Prophet, was now about to leave, with his family, for 
Utah, and his first wife, that is, the one he first married — his 
lawful wife — was very anxious I should travel with them ; 
and I therefore went to her house to prepare for the journey. 
We were about ready to set out. I happened to look out 
one day, and saw some one coming, accompanied by two 
women ; and, as they approached the house, I was astonished 
to see Wallace, whom I had supposed to be dead. It proved 
that he had not died as reported ; so far from that, he had 
married another wife, Ellen Cutter, in addition to Harriet. 
He had now two wives, and both were with him. 

Mrs, Young wondered if they could be coming to see me, 
and I told her I thought they were, but that I should not run 
from them. 

Sure enough, they came to the door, and Wallace knocked, 



Offer of Marriage — Leaving for Zion. 141 

and I opened the door to him. Wallace offered me his hand, 
which I could not well refuse, and I shook it with more 
reluctance than anything I had ever done in my life ; but I 
could not take the hand of Ellen or Harriet. Wallace said, 
"We called to invite you to go on to the valley with us, if 
you wish, you shall be as one of the party." 

I replied that I was provided for, as I was going with Mrs, 
Young. That I did not think he had any claim upon me, and 
pointed to his two wives, and said, " I supposed you knew me 
better : good bye," and left the room. I saw no more of 
Wallace until I arrived at Utah Valley. 

Everything was now ready, and in June, 1849, we com- 
menced a journey that was to last for months, over a wild 
stretch of prairie and desert, and among bleak and snow-cap- 
ped mountains — a journey memorable for its hardships, from 
fatigue, hunger and sickness. The cholera raged that season 
with uncommon fury on the plains, among all classes of emi- 
grants, and the entire route was almost an unbroken succes- 
sion of burying-grounds. Newly made graves met the eye at 
every step ; and there, amidst these, and the loneliness and 
solitude of the great desert, we struggled on. Alone with the 
one great God, of whose *nysterious existence we knew but 
little, and between whom and us stood our own Prophet, as 
our guide over the wide plains, sublime in their vastness. 

When we arrived at ISTew Fort Karney, I was again dis- 
appointed at finding my mother and brothers had gone on to 
the valley, and I was under the necessity of making the en- 
tu e journey with the family of Joseph Young. The company 
in which we travelled, were uncommonly fortunate in losing 



142 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

but few of its members by cholera, while other parties w^re 
in some cases nearly cut off by it. 

But the Gentile emigrants were still more unfortunate. 
Whole companies were swept off, and their cattle and other 
effects fell into the hands of the Mormons. Their teams, 
too, were liable to become worn down, and would often die ; 
and then, the emigrant who had loaded his wagon with such 
articles of furniture and tools as he had deemed indispensable 
to him, would be under the necessity of leaving them on the 
way. Of course they could not be sold, as no one would buy, 
when the chances were, that sooner or later he could find 
more than he could carry, abandoned on the way. The Mor- 
mons were generally well provided with teams, and owing to 
their experience in the hardships of such migrations, and the 
better discipline introduced by the Prophet, among their vari- 
ous companies of ten wagons each, their cattle seldom gave 
out, and they were thus always prepared to appropriate any- 
thing valuable to be found on the route. 

This state of things was soon understood among the Gen- 
tiles, and they adopted the plan of privately burying their 
most valuable property when obliged to leave it, among the 
graves of the dead, and erecting over it a headstone, and 
marking thereon some name to indicate the locality of a stran- 
ger's grave — so that one unversed in the secret, might unwit- 
tingly walk among real graves, mingled with valuable pro- 
perty "cached" among them, and if sentimentally inclined, 
might drop a silent tear of sympathy over a valuable stove, 
or plow, or thie like, purporting to be the grave of Amos 
Brown f or Hackaliah Thompson, of Connecticut or Kentucky 



Offer of Marriage — Leaving for Zion. 143 

But nothing- escaped the ever-watchful Mormon. They soon 
discovered the cheat among the cholera graves, and many of 
these "caches" were opened by them, and the property care- 
fully removed, while the earth was replaced, and the head- 
stone ao-ain erected. Months afterwards, when those owning 
the property returned for it, they would find it gone the way 
of all Gentile property within the reach of Mormon hands. 

I recollect one night, while on the Piatt River, before we 
reached the North Fork, we had encamped in the midst of 
almost numberless graves. The cholera had swept off hun- 
dreds at this point, and the graves were far and near, clus- 
tered in every conceivable irregularity about the camping 
ground. 

We went in to camp a little before night, and there was 
ample time for our cache robbers to look about for valuable 
prizes, which from the number of new graves, promised 
well. 

Two of our wagon-drivers had, as they told the story, the 
next morning, discovered before dark, in a secluded place, a 
very large grave, which was, as they imagined, entirely too 
long for the ordinary purposes of human burial. They there- 
fore marked the locality, and when the camp was still, late in 
the night, took a lantern, and went alone to secure the booty ; 
not wishing to share it with any of their comrades. It was a 
dark disagreeable night. A night when spooks and hobgob- 
lins would be abroad if they ever were. The rain fell in tor- 
rents. They found the " cache " they were looking for, and 
went to work ; one with the spade, and the other holding the 
light The prospect of gain gave them nerve. A strong 



144 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

thrust upon the spade, sent it full length into the bottom of 
the grave, and upon examination, they found the spade had 
laid bare the face of a dead body, apparently a very large 
man. The face covered with whiskers, was half torn off by 
the spade. The body had no coffin. The effect was terrible 
upon them. To open alone at such an hour, the grave of a 
cholera victim, surrounded by the thick and inky atmosphere 
of night, so lately vocal with the wail of death, was horrible. 

They were at first disposed to run, but they mustered suffi- 
cient courage to refill the grave, and then went cowering back 
to camp — satisfied for the balance of the route with that 
night's experience in robbing " Gentile " cachds. 

I do not propose to give a detailed account of our journey 
to Salt Lake, as I kept no journal of it. It was long and 
tiresome, occupying four months for its accomplishment, every 
day bringing with it a new adventure. Now harrassed with 
the fear of an attack from the Indian bands, that roam the 
boundless plains through which our route lay, who are go- 
verned by no law save that of a strongest ami ; parched one 
day by thirst under a scorching sun, and the next, drenched 
by soaking rains. Suffocated by the hot airs of the plains 
during the day, and at night, chilled by the cold breath of the 
mountains : in short, suffering all the chances and mischances 
of a wandering life in the open air. Joyous and glad when 
the sun and the heavens were propitious, and sternly resolute 
to protect the aged, and the fir-ail women and little children, 
when the face of nature frowned upon us, we struggled through 
to the end, and about the middle of September, 1849, arrived 
at Great Salt Lake City. 



Offer of Marriage — Lea ting for Zion. 145 

This had been regarded by all good Mormons, as the end 
jf all earthly suffering and hardship. Once at this, " out 
Zion," all wrongs were to be redressed, and all doubtful 
points settled by the Prophet of God, upon a basis so simple, 
and easily understood, that all ground of complaint should 
cease, and the Church should find rest, and rule the earth in 
peace. No one more than myself looked forward with hope, 
mingled with fear and trembling, for the fulfillment of these 
glowing expectations. But I think I was not the only woman 
who was bitterly disappointed in the realization. 

I had, by mingling with Gentiles in Missouri, by chance 
picked up here and there a hint, that Mormonism was not true ; 
ind Smith had more than once hinted the same, and now I had 
come to the last step in the proof. I knew that robbery and 
murder could not be right in the abstract; and certainly, 
when not required by necessity to protect the Church, upon 
the principle of self-defence, it would not be justified by the 
Prophet. I said to myself, " has he not led his people to a 
far-off land, to avoid the crime, and bitter strife, and bloodshed 
which had thus far followed the intercourse of the Church 
with the world ; and will not these irregularities be condemned, 
now that the necessity for them has been removed V J 

How bitterly I realized my mistake, and how heartily I 
repudiated Mormonism, and what ample reasons I found for 
doiug so, will be found in the following chapters." 



146 Fifteen Years among the Mormons* 



CHAPTER XIV. 

GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

Brigham Young with the main body of Mormons, had 
been at the valley about two years. The anniversary of the 
day on which the Prophet, with the Heads of the Church, ar- 
rived there, is still observed, and is celebrated with great 
pomp and ceremony. This event occurred July 24th, 1847, 
hence July 24th, instead of July 4th, is the great national day 
among the Mormons, for they already familiarize themselves 
with the idea of a Mormon nationality. 

The Prophet had selected a site for a city, which was to 
become the centre of the Mormon world ; and Great Salt 
City, the name by which it was christened, was founded on 
the east bank of the Jordan River. The Jordan connects Lake 
Utah with the Great Salt Lake, and is a beautiful stream. The 
city occupies a bench which rises gradually from the river, 
and is one of the most eligible and lovely localities imaginable. 
The streets are regularly laid out in squares. The main street, 
which is now built up with valuable buildings for the distance 
of two and a half or three miles, runs parallel to the Jordan, 
and is intersected by other streets at right angles. Streams 
of pure soft water are brought from the mountains behind the 



Great Salt Lake City, Utah. 147 

city, for the purpose of irrigation, and are conducted through 
the city, and allowed to gurgle down the gutters of each side 
of the principal streets, singing amid the busy hum of trade 
and strife wonderful tales of the mountain homes they have left 
behind, while the streets are ornamented by long rows of trees 
of different kinds, the thick and delightful shade of which, 
joined with the refreshing murmur of the rills ever rippling 
beneath them, give the city an air of rural, and even sylvan 
beauty, perhaps never before realized in so large a town. The 
buildings are mostly " adobe " (i. e.), built of sun-dried brick, 
moulded from blue clay. The land is very fertile when irri- 
gated by the streams just mentioned. These streams are in 
charge of the police, whose duty it is to see that each person 
having land has the use of the water, generally two hours 
each week or as he has need according to the number of acres 
he has under cultivation ; and when not thus diverted, it runs 
through the city as before described. The climate is perhaps 
the most healthy and enchanting in the world. The atmos- 
phere is very dry and clear. Rain seldom falls. There will 
be perhaps one shower or so during the summer — sometimes 
two, but seldom more. The snow upon the mountains, which 
is always in sight, serves to keep the air delightfully cool and 
pure. Sickness is almost unknown there. The nights are 
apt tq be somewhat cool. 

During the first three winters after the arrival of the Mor- 
mons at Utah, there was no snow, and no cold weather to 
prevent the cattle from feeding in the open fields, along the 
Jordan bottoms ; and then they required no extra attention. 
.Since that time there have been some verv severe winters, 



148 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

with more or less snow, and the first occurrence of this in« 
creased severity of the climate, which has since for the most 
part continued, caused much suffering among the cattle, great 
numbers of which died, as experience had not shown the 
necessity of barns and sheds for their protection against such 
emergencies. The cattle are pastured in summer on the rich 
bottoms, along the banks of the gently flowing Jordan, which 
are too low for cultivation, but furnishing abundance of ex- 
cellent pasturage. The country is well adapted to raising 
cattle, and by irrigation, which will always be necessary, as 
there is no rain, it is equally so for all kinds of grain, if the 
water does not fail. It is, in short, one of the most desirable 
countries, both as regards climate and agricultural products, as 
a residence for man, and once fully developed, and freed from 
the curse of Mormonism, with a good government to which 
the peaceable citizen can look for protection, it is capable of 
sustaining a large population, and of producing the highest 
\ype of physical development of which the human race is 
capable. 

As for myself I speak from the convictions of my best judg- 
ment, and from the results of my own experience, when I say, 
that could I see Utah freed from Mormonism, I would prefer 
by all odds to live there, in preference to any other part of 
the globe of which I have any knowledge ; and that great 
Salt Lake City would be the particular spot at which I would 
pitch my tent, "forever" 

The foundation of a most magnificent temple has been 
laid in the city, and the inclosure, an adobe wall, is already 
finished. This wall, which is about twelve feet high, incloses 



Great Salt Lake City, Utah. 149 

ten acres of ground, in the centre of which are rising the 
walls of the temple. The whole energy of the Church is now 
directed towards its completion. The plan of the temple was 
a special revelation to Brigham Young. Many other public 
buildings have been erected, and large and expensive blocks 
have risen in the business quarter, the result of private enter- 
prise. 

Perhaps history has seldom, if ever, recorded an instance 
of success so rapid and remarkable, as that which has at- 
tended the combined enterprise of the Church at Salt Lake 
City, and in Utah generally. The end of which suooess, if 
unchecked by Gentile interference, is not yet. 



150 Fifteen Years among the Mftu-vom 



CHAPTER XV. 

CHURCH POLITT, 

Before proceeding further with my own personal narra- 
tive, I deem it proper to give, in a brief form, some account 
of the Mormon Church Polity. This may be found the more 
necessary to a clear understanding of the following pages, as 
affording the key to some acts of the Heads of the Church, 
which otherwise might appear devoid of motive. 

THE "PROPHET" BRIGHAM YOUNG. 

Brigham Young is " the President of the Church of Jesus 
Jurist, of Latter Day Saints." The acknowledged " Prophet." 
Je holds the " Keys of the Kingdom," that is, the keys of 
Heaven. Without the permission of the " Prophet " none 
:an be saved. He is an acknowledged revelator. Claims, 
and is acknowledged by the Church, to be the supreme Pon- 
tiff of the world, with both temporal and spiritual jurisdiction, 
and as such, is entitled to the implicit, personal, and unques- 
tioned obedience of all Mormons. To whose power there is 
in fact no limit among the faithful : and when we add to this, 
a iro^ l^.iige of the dogma, that it is allowed and enjoined, 
tt to md\ the Gentiles to enforce obedience," we understand 



Church Polity. 151 

bow dangerous the " Prophet " might become if be had the 
power. 

THE FIRST PRESIDENCY. 

The second great power in the Church, next to the Pro- 
phet, is the First Presidency. This is composed of the 
Prophet and his two counsellors. The three together form 
that fearful centre of all ecclesiastical and temporal power in 
the Church, known as the First Presidency, or simply the 
" Presidency." 

To be a member of this august trio, is to be a right-hand 
man with the Prophet — his shadow, and 'to be authorized to 
act for him in his absence, or disability. 

When I left the valley it was composed as follows : — Brig- 
ham Young, Hebir Chase Kimball, and Jedadiah M. Grant. 
The last has since died, and his place will be filled by another, 
probably by John Taylor. 

COLLEGE OF THE " TWELVE APOSTLES." 

The next " order " in the Church is that of the " Twelve 
Apostles," usually called the " Twelve ;" among whom I may 
mention the names of Orson Pratt, Parley P. Pratt, Orson 
Hyde, John Taylor, Willford Woodruff, Samuel Richards, 
Amasy Lyman, Ezra T. Benson, George A. Smith, and Char- 
les C. Rich. I cannot recollect the names of the others. 
Some members of this college have been called to a foreign 
mission, or otherwise disqualified for the performance of the 
duties of this office, in which cases, it has been customary to 
fill their places, and hence it happens, that there is in fact, at 



152 FiFiEifijr Years among the Mormons. 

present, at least fifteen of the "Twelve;" only twelve arc 
however, entitled to seats in this "quorum" at one time. 
The " Twelve " come still nearer the people, and the Presi- 
dent of the Twelve, first, and next to him one of its members, 
&ct and " counsel " in all matters in the absence of a member 
j>f the " First Presidency." The members of this order are 
subject to do duty as missionaries, in which case they join 
the " Seventies," mentioned hereafter. 

PRESIDENT OF THE SEVENTIES. 

The next office in point of dignity is the President of the 
Seventies. This is at present filled by Joseph Young, a 
brother of the Prophet. The body over which he presides is 
made up as follows. The seventy quorums, hereafter men- 
tioned, have each a President. These presidents form a sort 
of administrative council over the subject of " missions and 
preaching," called the Seventies, and it is over this body, the 
President of Seventies presides. The " Seventies," thus 
made up, have the direction of all matters connected with 
the propagandism of the Church. From this body emanate 
all missionary efforts, and instructions to those connected 
therewith, as also the subject of preaching, and preachers in 
general. The President of this body is the head of all out- 
side effort for the conversion of the world, always subject, of 
course, to the higher powers before mentioned. 

THE QUORUM OF SEVENTIES. 

Each member of the body last mentioned, numbering 



Church Polity. 153 

seventy in all, is himself a President of another bod} 7 , called a 
Quorum of Seventy, having also in theory, seventy members. 
These Quorums are not always full, in fact, they seldom are 
all so. They form the bone and muscle of missionary labor ; 
and have no reference to rank in the Church, as an Apostle, 
or a High Priest or Elder, or Priest, may be a member of one 
of these Quorums. They constitute the instruments by which 
the measures of the " Seventies," and its President are carried 
into effect. They are the outside working bees of the central 
hive, and " go into all the world to preach the gospel," with- 
out " purse or scrip," and often come back again loaded with 
money, and bringing many converts with them. They are 
scattered over the whole earth, and are continually going 
and coming, leaving their many wives at Salt Lake, that 
they may not want an inducement to return in due 
time, to render an account to the President of the Seven- 
ties. Each Quorum preserves in its secret archives, a com- 
plete record of the genealogy of each of its members, as also 
of the official acts of each. Organized as they are, they con- 
stitute the most effective body of working men conceivable ; 
second perhaps only to the celebrated order of Jesuits, whose 
fame and crimes are known to the ends of the earth. It was 
the apparent miracle performed by one of these, that effected 
the conversion of my mother to Mormonism. 

THE PRIESTHOOD. 

The orders referred to heretofore, as w r ell as those hereaftei 
described, have more particular reference to the practical 

1* 



154 Fifteen Years among tfte Mormons. 

administration of the temporal business of the Church. Th6 
priesthood, however, appears to be charged with the execu- 
tion of its spiritual affairs exclusively — a sort of spiritual exe- 
cutive body, though as heretofore seen, the priesthood is pos- 
sessed by all who belong to the Quorums. The High Priest 
is first in rank of this order, and next after the Apostles. 
Next in this order come the Elders ; and last and lowest, 
we have the simple priests. But if any of these wish to 
preach, they must join a Quorum. The priesthood, in some 
form, is understood to be necessary to the salvation of a 
male, or at least, to his exaltation ; and a female cannot be 
saved without being " sealed " to some male who is a Priest. 
Hence all true Mormons are Priests, and women really do 
not amount to much in themselves, as they have no souls 
of their own. Hence women are often " sealed," that is 
married to men, when they do not intend to live with them 
as an earthly wife, but merely that they may be saved by 
them : in that case they are " sealed" for eternity, as it is 
termed. But when they are married for the natural pur- 
poses of a wife, u e. to have children, they are then said to 
be " sealed " for time ; and they may be " sealed " for one alone, 
or for both. If a woman's husband is dead, she need not be 
sealed again, unless she chooses, and when she does marry 
again, she is " sealed only for time, as when she dies, her first 
husband will " resurrect," i. e. save her ; and she will be his 
in the next world. 

The difference between " exaltation" and " salvation," in 
the Mormon use of these terms, is this. A male Mormon 
without the priesthood may be saved "by favor of the Pro- 



Church Polity. 155 

phet ; as also may a Gentile to be used as a servant ; but can 
never be exalted. This exaltation means having in the next 
world a kingdom, and a great many wives, and many Gen- 
tile servants, and being great in power as a sovereign. All 
the wives and the children of a priest in this world belong 
to his " kingdom " in the next, and are a part of his " exal- 
tation " there. A woman's " exaltation " in the next world 
depends upon her being " sealed n to a man that is a priest in 
this, and who can exalt her there, by winning for himself a 
high exaltation. That is to say the glory of the wife, in the 
next world, is dependent upon the glory of her husband. 
Hence, among true Mormon women, it is an object to marry 
some of the Heads of the Church, or those of high official 
dignity. To marry an Apostle or a High Priest, is considered 
a great honor ; while to be a wife of the Prophet, or of a 
member of the First Presidency, is the highest dignity to 
which a woman can aspire ; and this is the reason why the 
Heads of the Church get so many wives. This principle is 
often used among the girls, as a bug-bear to force them to 
marry, and often old men succeed in winning young girls to 
their beds by it, if they occupy high positions. Coercion is 
seldom used to effect marriages among the women. They 
are indulged in the utmost freedom of choice among the 
men. They are only required to marry some one, " and tho 
man of her choice," is not at liberty to refuse to marry a wo 
man when asked to do so. Proposition for marriage comes 
as often, and with as good grace from the female, as from the 
male. An apparent hardship in this system, and it is only in 
appearance, is that it woulJ be likely to leave some men 



156 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

without wives, while others have a great number. But a man 
who lacked the necessary address to win a wife or several 
of them, would not be likely to complain ; besides the fact is, 
that women accumulate under the system. I think it seldom 
occurs, that a man wishing to marry, who is able to support 
a wife, cannot find at least one ; although many not over 
good looking men, who have no high official dignity to re- 
commend them, are obliged to content themselves with one 
or two. It is considered, however, in " good society," to be 
a want of position and rank to possess but one wife ; and few 
men have the moral courage to appear in public with less 
than two ; while on great occasions, when it is an object to 
make an impression upon the public mind, it is the custom 
for men of position to appear surrounded by a numerous 
train of wives — the more the better. 

It will be seen from the above, why all the wives after the 
first are called " spiritual," L e. because they are to be wives 
in the spirit world, and are now raising children for the exalta- 
tion of the spiritual kingdom of the husband. It is pos- 
sible also to be the " spiritual wife " of one man, and the 
temporal wife of another at the same time. I have thus 
given a fuller account of this part of Mormon practice and 
belief, not because I think it a very interesting subject, but 
because it was necessary to a clear understanding of what 
follows, and as affording a key to Mormon success and disci- 
pline. It is proper that I state that it is believed and taught, 
that when a man dies unmarried, he has no kingdom in the 
next world ; and hence he is not " exalted" there ; and that 
a man can, by consent, be annexed in this world to some 



Ciiukch Polity. 1£7 

other man's Kingdom for the next. Also that the sons and 
sons-in-law, with their wives, may be in like manner annexed 
to the Kingdom of the father or father-in-law ; thus swelling 
his and waiving their own claim to a Kingdom. 

This system is capable of many other applications, which 
are amplified and pressed into service by the Heads of the 
Church, in order to keep their deluded victims in the line of 
" duty ;" a full account of which would be too long and 
tedious for the limits and design of these pages. 

I may state, however, in a general way, that all " Gentiles " 
are to be in the next world servants of the " Saints ;" and 
that the second coming of Christ is soon expected, and is in 
fact now waited for. And then that Christ will reign upon 
the earth, a thousand years, and then Mormons will "possess 
the earth," and all the Gentiles living at that second coming 
will give up their property to the Church, and serve the 
" Saints " in whatever menial capacity the latter may direct. 

Brigham Young says he knows some persons in the States 
that would make excellent servants ; and instanced Franklin 
Pierce, President of the United States, and other men of po- 
sition in the country connected with the Government. This 
remark of the Prophet has been deemed by some an un 
grateful return to President Pierce, for the appointment by 
the latter of Brigham Young to the office of Civil Governor 
of the territory of Utah. 

TH3 PATRIARCH. 

The office of Patriarch is one of great sanctity and honor, 



158 Fifteen Tears among the Mokmcns. 

althouga not :>ne of much power, as it is confined to grant 
ing " blessings," * usually written out after an approved form 

* The following is an exact copy of a " blessing," pronounced by 
Hiram, who was afterwards killed with his brother, the Prophet 
Joseph Smith. The authority to pronounce these blessings, is pos- 
sessed by all the Heads of the Church, in common with the Patriarch, 
but it is the special duty of the latter. 

44 PATRIARCHAL BLESSING OF MARY ETTIE CORAY, DAUGHTER OP SILAS 
AND MARY CORAY. 

44 Born in the Township of Providence, Luzern County, and State of 
Pennsylvania, Z\st of Jan., 1829. 

44 Sister Mary Ettie, I lay my hands upon your head in the name 
of Jesus of Nazareth, to place and seal a blessing unto you, even a 
Father's blessing, which blessing is Patriarchal as from under the 
hands of your father or any one of the Patriarchs of old, that a bless- 
ing should be placed upon your head, according to the covenants 
with your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and in future time, 
receive a fullness of those blessings, according to the promises as 
touching your inheritance and the glory of your father, and the honor 
and immortality and felicity of your Mansion in the resurrection of 
the Just, therefore there is a blessing for you and a reward laid up 
for your obedience, for the integrity of your heart, in the days of 
your youth ; remember that you are now in your youthful days, and 
this life at times and seasons in the intermediate spaces of your ex- 
istence, will be attended with tribulations, but in the world to come, 
you shall have immortality and eternal life. This is your reward be- 
cause of the integrity of your heart. And again you shall be blessed 
temporally and spiritually in your house and habitation, in your field 
and in your flocks, in your basket and in your store, as also in your 
posterity, and your name shall be perpetuated from generation to 
generation, and your miracles and acts shall be written in the archives 



Church Polity. 159 

and over the signature of the Patriarch, which are supposed 
to act as a sort of charm in favor of the possessor. These 
benedictions are made for a fee of one dollar, and their de- 
livery constitutes the sole business of the Patriarch. The 
office is held during life, which is an exception to the general 
rule of the Church, as all other elective offices are limited to 
a specific term. This office has always been in the family 
of the Prophet Smith. Joseph Smith, father of the Prophet, 
was the first Patriarch, and John L. Smith is the present in- 
cumbent. He is still a young man. The Prophet Joseph 
was his cousin. 



JUDICIAL AND EXECUTIVE OFFICES. 

There are a few minor officers on whom devolve the ex- 
ecution of all the municipal regulations of the Church — a 
set of men who stand directly between the governed and the 
governing class ; at once officers of the Church, and of the 
civil executive. Among these the most important, though 
not highest in rank, is that of Bishop. The city at Salt Lake 
is divided into twenty-four wards, each of which has a 

and chronicles of your brethren. And your days and years are num- 
bered and shall be many. These blessings I seal upon your head. 
Even so, Amen. 

" Given by Hiram Smith, at Nauvoo, 111., Sept. 24th, 1840." 

" Howard Coray, Clerk. 
Endorsed on the back as follows : 
u Entered in Record-book, page 181. 

" H. Coray, Clerk." 



160 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Bishop. In other settlements of the territory similar divisiont 
of convenient size are made and placed under a like officer. 
The duties of their offices are partly judicial but mainly that 
of an informer. They " hear and determine " complaints, 
either civil or religious, upon which they act subject to ap- 
peal to the "High Council." They make domiciliary visits 
each week, to inquire into the temporal and spiritual condi- 
tion of each person of their ward ; and all persons disaffected, 
as to word or doctrine, are reported to the First Presidency. 
They are, in short, the general informers, as between the 
Prophet and the people, and all " Gentiles " within the wards 
are watched and reported upon in like manner. They also 
collect the tithing. 

The intermediate tribunal, to whom appeals may be made 
from the award of the Bishop, known as the " High Coun- 
cil," is composed of fifteen men, chosen from among the 
High Priests, twelve of whom act as jurors, and a majority 
of these decide the case by vote ; the remaining three acting as 
judges, passing sentence, and fixing damages and costs and 
the like. An appeal can be had from this tribunal to the 
First Presidency, from which there is no appeal. A Mormon 
cannot appeal for redress as between himself and another 
Mormon to the civil courts ; but must in the first instance 
carry the case to his Bishop, unless he gets the permission of 
the " High Council." 

The Bishop is assisted by another officer, called a Teacher ; 
and he has sometimes two of these, as occasion may require. 
The duty of the Teacher is to assist the Bishop, more particu- 
lar!; 7 in the religious part of his duty. He makes domici- 



Chuecn Policy. 161 

liarly visits, and catechises the people and children, and re- 
ports to the Bishop all heresies or other irregularities among 
them. All offices of the Church expire by limitation, once in 
six months, except that of Patriarch, which is held during 
life. The different orders of the Priesthood and the Quorum 
of the Seventies, of course, are not now referred to, as they 
are not elective offices, but permanent orders in the Church ; 
but every elective office, from the Prophet down to the Bi- 
shop and his teachers, go out of office twice in each year ; 
and this occurs on the 6th of April and October, at which 
time the semi-annual conference is held. This conference is 
made up of the whole people, assembled in one body, and 
presided over by the President and Prophet, Brigham Young. 
When all are assembled, then each officer is called to an ac- 
count, and any one is at libe.ty to prefer charges, beginning 
with the Prophet. 

It speaks well for the shrewdness of Brigham Young, that 
no opposition has ever been made to his administration, and 
that he has been reelected twice every year since he succeed- 
ed Joseph Smith at Nauvoo. Thus each officer, after the 
Prophet, comes before the people for reelection, and however 
absolute may be tha power of his office, he is still accountable 
to the great body of the people, as the original source of 
power. The supposed power of the Prophet, as such, and the 
timely revelation of which he avails himself when too closely 
pressed, are the true secrets of his power. This detracts very 
much from the merit, which would otherwise attach to the 
apparent democracy of the Mormon Church Government. 
Besides the officers before mentioned, there is one known as 



162 Fifteen Yeaes among the Mormons. 

the Captain of the Police, who has under his commanl a 
necessary number of policemen to enable him to keep up a 
night guard in all parts of the city, and around the public 
works. There are other organized bodies within the Church, 
of a secret character, which may be regarded as being a part 
of her recognized institutions, such as the band of the " Dan- 
ites," and the various and mostly unknown ramifications of 
the institution connected with the "Endowment" rooms. It 
is here, in what is termed the " second anointing," where none 
but the most approved Mormon enters — none but those who 
have been tested by years of trial, and then bound by the 
most solemn oaths, which involve life and limb as a forfeit, 
that are hid the real secrets of the Church. Here her true 
aims are fully developed, and the plans by which she proposes 
to accomplish her final mission conceived and put in motion. 
The Danites are supposed to be merely a secret police, for the 
execution of the commands issued from behind the veil of 
these dark mysteries ; and judging from what we know of their 
acts, we are justified in believing the aims of this secret power 
are by no means modest. Enough has escaped the lips of the 
Heads of the Church, in moments of excitement and anger, to 
indicate that the propogation of the principles of the Church, 
and the spread of the Prophet's sway, are not to rest entirely 
upon the slow and uncertain process of moral suasion. One 
thing is certain. They are well organized to-day in a military 
point of view ; and the habits of undying watchfulness, and 
hardy enterprise, acquired by a long experience of continued 
conflict with the " Gentiles " in Missouri and Illinois, and 
during their migration through the wilderness among the 



Chuech PoLicr. 163 

wild Indian tribes, and wild beasts, over the wide prairies to 
their new " Zion," render them to-day the best disciplined 
people in the world. Ever on their guard ; skilled in all the 
learning of wood craft ; able to read as upon the printed page, 
upon the great desert by which their isolated homes are sur- 
rounded, those signs, which to inexperienced eyes, would pass 
unnoticed ; familiar with the laws of life and climate, which 
characterize their country ; and thus enabled to turn all these 
to their own advantage, as against strangers ; and lastly, famil- 
iar with the wild mountain passes and deep canons, through 
which all approach to them must be made ; they would certain- 
ly seem to be in possession of some elements of strength, in case 
they found it necessary to use them for self-defence. Added 
lo which, it is well understood, that measures are being taken 
by them to locate defences among these passes of the moun- 
tains. And where they do not actually erect defence, exa- 
minations are made, and plans matured, which can be easily 
put into execution when they are needed. Many, and most 
of these passes in fact, need no works of defence. A few de- 
termined men in the right position, well acquainted with the 
locality, is all that will be needed to prevent the passage of a 
much larger body of armed men.* 

The poMcy of the Church in regard to the Indians is very 
peculiar. Every tribe is visited by missionary Elders, who 
instruct them in the Mormon faith ; and by intermarriage, and 
by every other means, efforts are made to bring them under 

* Among other means of defence against Gentile interference, often 
mentioned at the valley, may be included that of poisoning the wella 
and fountains, as a last resort. 



164 FiFrEEN Years among the Mormons. 

the Mormon control, by which means they are gaining coun 
tenance among them. This influence they are using to pre- 
judice the Indians against the people of the United States, 
and against the American Government. This is now the set- 
tied policy of the Church, and if it has no other influence, it 
will have the effect, if it has not already, to stir up the tribes 
to open hostilities against the undefended settlements of the 
Far West. And in case of collision between the Mormons and 
the United States Government, which must come sooner or 
later, this control over the Indian tribes would give the for- 
mer a great advantage over the latter. 

I deem it proper to state in connection, that the mysteries 
of the Second Anointing of the Endowments, among other in- 
human ceremonies, are supposed to be defiled by the mon- 
strous rite of offering human sacrifices, or at least, that the 
doctrine is fully taught and developed there. Enough has 
already transpired among the women to justify this conclu- 
sion. Those who have not taken this anointing, and but a 
comparatively small number of them have taken it, are very 
much alarmed about this, as they know not what to expect. 
They are always upon the rack, as they are liable to be called 
upon at any time to go to the Endowment rooms for that pur- 
pose. 

THE CONSECRATION OF PROPERTY. 

Another effect of the mysteries of the Endowments, is the 
consecration of the entire property to the Church by placing 
it in the hands of the Prophet. This is a high test of faith, 
but i ne at which the true Mormon, if he has penetrated those 



Church Policy. 165 

inner mysteries, never falters. The consecration itself is not a 
secret, but is made in a public manner. By proper and legal 
modes, the whole earthly property of the person making the 
consecration is conveyed to the Prophet, who holds the same 
not in trust, but in his own right. The consecrator in the 
main is allowed to keep possession until called for by the 
Prophet, who takes it only as he has need, and exercises 
great discretion and kindness in the assumption of his legal 
rights over it. If the Prophet is in want of a yoke of oxen 
and he judges a man who has consecrated his property can 
spare them, he sends one of his servants to drive them away, 
but he is careful never to do it in such a manner, that it shall 
be considered a hardship by the one in possession ; for the 
latter is always considered the owner, until it is called for by 
the Prophet, and he is at liberty to use, and even to dispose 
of it for his own support, and for that of his family, but for 
no other purpose. 

When we consider the enterprise and energy which char- 
acterize the Mormon people, and their increasing wealth at 
Utah, we must acknowledge that Brighara Young is at this 
moment not only in theory, but in fact, an untrammelled sov- 
ereign of great wealth, and to say the least, is one of grow- 
ing power, if not already powerful. 

TITHING. 

Every male member of the Church is required to devote 
every tenth day of his time in labor upon the Temple, or 
other public works, or pay a sum of money equal to the hire 
of a t abstitute : and the Church is also entitled to, and scru- 



166 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

puluosly exacts from, all property holders a tenth of their in- 
come, and a tenth of the produce of all lands. No one's pro- 
perty is exempt from this ta,x as it goes into the general 
treasury for the propagation of the gospel, for bringing con- 
verts to Utah, and defraying the expenses of the public works ; 
and after these, for the erection of the Temple. The cheerful 
payment of this tithing is regarded as a test of orthodoxy. 



Reuben P. Smith's Arrival. 167 



CHAPTER XVI. 

REUBEN P. SMITH'S ARRIVAL NARROW ESCAPE FROM BE- 
COMING A "SPIRITUAL." 

Once at the end of the tedious journey over the plains, 
and safely reunited with my family, and above all, in my own 
mother's house, I was happy again. My mother had bought 
a house and lot in a pleasant part of the city, and was already 
settled, with Lizzie and Uriah with her. She had an aero 
and a quarter of ground, the size of all the city lots designed 
for dwellings. My brother Howard was also there with his 
family, so we were all settled near each other. My brother 
William's wife was also there. It will be recollected that 
William had joined the Mormon battalion for the Mexican 
war, and we had just received intelligence of his death. All 
our family that were Mormons, and yet living, were now at 
Salt Lake City, and I was more disposed, and apparently 
had it more in my power than ever before^ to settle down 
contentedly and lead a quiet life. Thus far the sea of my 
life had been troubled and stormy, and if I did not find my- 
self disappointed in my expectations as to what I still sup- 
posed Mormonism to be, I saw no reason why my tempest* 
tossed bark should not rest secure within the calm haven of 



1G8 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

our new Zion. Yet all depended upon what the Prophet had 
to say to the wrong I had suffered. If he justified all the Mor- 
mons had done in his absence, and if he approved their crimes, 
and that was Mormonism, then I was not a Mormon, and I 
should regret having left the States. But I was soon to know. 

My brother Howard, now a High Priest, was one of the 
Prophet's secretaries, and one day I went to the office to 
eee him, and while there the Prophet came in, and recognized 
ine, although we had not met since the cold and dreary march 
through Iowa, at which time we were in the same company 
with him for a few days. 

The Prophet, who is acknowledged to be one of the finest 
looking men in the Church, and possessed of a remarkably easy 
and winning address, received me very cordially, and said, 
" Well, Nettie, how do you like Mormonism by this time ?" 
I replied to him at some length, that if Mormonism was the 
game at Salt Lake that it was in the States, I did not think I 
was a Mormon. I told him the whole story as to Wallace, 
and how he had treated me. I felt the utmost freedom in 
unburthening my heart's secret to him even as to a parent. 
I referred to the hardship and crime of the double wife doc- 
trine, and to the crimes of the Heads of the Church, and tho 
" Danites." 

He listened to me with great patience and kindness of man 
ner, and I waited his reply with untold interest. My faith in 
Mormonism hung upon his reply. He evidently understood 
the difficulty of my case, for at times he looked troubled and 
anxious. When he replied, he made no mention of any mat- 
ters but those which personally interested me. He said, " I 



Reuben P. Smith's Arrival. 169 

will tell you, Nett, how it is. There is a right in the mat- 
ter. It is perfectly right, as well as a privilege, and has now 
become a duty, for every man in the Church to have a plural- 
ity of wives. But if a man's wife tries to do what is right 
about it, her husband should be reasonable. There are some 
shrewd women in the Church who cannot stand that doc- 
trine. They w r ere intended from the foundation of the world 
for another purpose. We are all calculated to be beneficial 
in the hands of our Heavenly Father, in rolling forth this 
great work. But if all our women were like you, our Mor- 
monism would soon come to naught." 

I said, " Brother Brigham, I do not understand what a 
mere woman can do." To which he replied, " Such a woman 
as you are can be very useful. I cannot explain it now, 
but you shall know soon enough. Make yourself contented. 
I do not uphold "Wallace. I think he has done very wrong. 
He must be rebaptized, or I cannot fellowship him." 

At this point, his daughter Luna came in, and called him 
to supper. He said, " Tell your ma I will take tea with 
Augusta to-night." The Augusta referred to was Mrs. Cobb, 
mentioned in another part of this book, and now one of his 
wives. I then told him I was disappointed, and was sorry I 
was there, but that I must make the best of it. To which he 
replied, " That is the right spirit. Be ' sealed ' to some man 
that has a wife, and then you will not feel so bad." Here the 
interview ended, and I went home to my mother, and told 
her how matters stood, and what the Prophet had said. It 
was then too late in the fall to return to the States ; but I 
would gladly have done so, had it been within my power. 

8 



170 Fifteen Years among- the Mormons. 

My mother until then had believed with me, that the 
Prophet would condemn the spiritual wife doctrine ; and we 
were both greatly distressed ; but we soon had greater cause 
for alarm. I have neglected to mention, that almost the first 
person I had met upon my arrival at the city was Wallace. 
I met him in the street, and he told me that he was going to 
South California, and perhaps to South America. He said 
his health was very poor ; and he seemed to be in low 
spirits. I wished him well as we parted ; and this was the 
last time we ever met. He went, and soon after died. The 
news of his death was published in the city paper,* which 
mentioned his disease as having been some difficulty of the 

* Although I have never heard of Wallace since I saw the notice 
of his death, it now occurs to me, that this of itself would be no evi- 
dence of the fact, if the Prophet had a motive in inducing me to be- 
lieve him dead. 

I recollect a circumstance of this kind, that occurred when I was at 
the Valley, as follows : 

George A. Smith, who is a bald-headed old man, and one of the 
" Apostles," wished to add to the wives he already had, a young girl ; 
but she preferred a younger man. Soon after she was married her 
husband was sent away from his home, and from his young wife, upon 
a mission by the influence of Smith, and the story was afterwards cir- 
culated of his death ; and the wife was "counselled," and at length 
induced to marry the " Apostle " Smith, before rejected. But the 
husband returned, and claimed his wife. Smith refused to give her 
up, or to allow her to be seen by him, who thereupon apostatized, and 
*eft for California, and nothing more was heard from him. 

Entering into competition with an " Apostle," for the possession of 
a "spiritual" at the Valley, is not thought to be a safe or equal con- 
test 



Harrow Escape from becoming a Spiritual. 171 

throat. Notwithstanding his life was now no more to me 
than to a stranger, as I had no intention of living with him • 
again, yet I received the news of his death the second time 
with feelings of sadness, the more so as I now felt we had 
both been the victims of a cruel religious delusion. 

The following winter was one of uncommon gaiety in the 
the city. The Mormons exceeded themselves in the number 
of the balls and parties, and amateur theatres, by which nearly 
every night was enlivened. These amusements are reduced 
to a system amoncr them, and all classes and a^es join in the 
wild and sometimes boisterous round of amusements, which 
here succeed each other. I have often danced at these places 
with the Prophet and other heads of the Church. Appoint- 
ments are made by the Church authorities, for the balls for 
each week, in such and such wards, and there are sometimes 
several in the city on the same night. Such arrangements 
are made, that every person in the Church can attend 
once or twice each week, or oftener if they choose. I 
made it a point to attend these parties during most of the 
winter, as this was the only relief I had against the pre- 
sentiment of evil which oppressed me. I felt at this time 
that I could no more endure double wifeism now than before, 
and if I had understood the Prophet rightly, there was no 
escape from it if I remained in the valley. I cannot deny 
that I sometimes thought of Smith. But I could hardly 
flatter myself I should see him again, as he had started 
over the plains before our party, and sir.ce he had not 
yet arrived, I concluded some misfortune had overtaken 
him or he had forgotten me. I found upon a close self ex- 



172 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

amination, that the possibility of either being true gave 
me great uneasiness, and yet I could not bring myself, even 
to wish, to expose him to the evils of Mormonism. And 
if he came how could he escape ? If he did not become a 
Mormon, he could be nothing to me, and rather than have 
him become one, I would forego forever the pleasure of see- 
ing him again. 

I spent, during the winter, much of my time in the family 
of Heber C. Kimball, who had over thirty wives ; not all of 
whom were at home, however, as they lived in different 
houses. 

I had no lack of offers, for it was a very common thing for 
me to make a conquest of some one almost daily. I was yet 
young, and for the first time began to think myself attractive, 
if the number of my suitors could be taken as an evidence of 
it. Among them were numbered men of all ranks and con- 
ditions in life. Heads of the Church, and undistinguished 
priests, and men of all ages, from the old man of seventy-five, 
with a stately train of wives at his heels, with babies to match, 
to the mere boy of eighteen ; w r ho looked forward with pride 
to the day when he should have as many. If I did not think 
best to avail myself of any of these tempting and flattering 
offers, it does not follow that they did not afford me a great 
amount of amusement, and yet the reflection oppressed me, 
that many of these men w r ere acting under instructions from 
the Prophet, and that a continued obstinacy on my. part 
might bring with it serious consequences. 

Oppressed with a vague fear of something which I could 
not well define, I went home one day, and when at the door, 



^Narrow Escape from becoming a Spiritual. 173 

my sister Lizzie met me, and with a face full of quizzical fun, 
said, " Ob you can't guess who Las been here, nor can I tell you. 
But I expect you will know well enough." " Who is it," said 
I, and Smith came to my mind at once. " Did his hair curl ?" 
u Oh yes," said Lizzie, u I knew you were waiting for some 
one, but you shaVt have him ; we will some of us cut you 
out." 

" Now I understand something," said Brother Kimball, who 
had brought me home in his carriage. He referred to my 
refusal of so many offers of marriage during the winter, which 
was, he said, very extraordinary among the Mormons. There 
was no need for Lizzie to tell me, as she did, that the stranger 
was one of our boarders at St. Joseph, or that he had men- 
tioned our passage of the Taukio in company. I knew it was 
Smith, and I was nearly wild with excitement. He had left 
word that he would call the next day, and I had ample time 
to look over the ground, and fully realize my position. I 
now felt I loved him too well to give him up, and that this 
would probably be the only chance I was likely to have of 
marrying a man, not a Mormon. I thought by marrying 
him I could get away from Mormonism, and otherwise I had 
no means nor excuse for going. The only embarrassment 
that presented itself was the thought of leaving my mother 
again. 

The next morning he came, and I was astonished to find 
nim so much improved in health and appearance. He had 
allowed his beard to grow, which added very much to his 
manly beauty. I was happy in meeting him once more. 
He told me he thought the journey over the plains must have 



174 Fifteen Years among the Mokmons. 

agreed with us both, judging from appearances. He said, 
" I thought I would call, as by agreement, and see you." 

I replied, " has no other motive impelled you ?" Smith 
looked at me earnestly, and said, 

" I think I can say in good faith, other motives have 
brought me here. I wish to have a few words with you alone, 
if convenient. Can I?" 

I gladly consented to listen to him, and indicated to mother 
what we wanted. As we had but one room in our house, my 
mother made an errand to one cf the neighbors, and left us 
alone. I cannot well describe in detail this interview. Smith 
said, " It is now about two years since I have been looking 
forward to this moment, and during all that time, I have 
fondly indulged the hope that you would yet be mine; and 
I trust I am not to be disappointed now — am I ?" 

Of course I told him what my heart so gladly prompted, 
or at least he took it for granted. 

I fully realized the difference between an undivided attach- 
ment like his, and that of which I had been the victim, when 
the wife of Wallace Henderson. I had married Wallace to 
escape the terrible fate of being obliged to marry some old 
man, who had already more wives than he should have. It 
is true I had learned afterwards to love him, and if he 
had treated me fairly, I should have been contented and 
happy. 

But my attachment to Smith was of a different and more 
absorbing character ; and yet I felt the embarrassment of our 
position. I t}ld Smith I could not marry him without Brig 
ham Young's consent, and that I would do it on no account, 



Narrow Escape from becoming a Spiritual. 175 

it I believed be could ever become a Mormon ; and yet, if we 
were married in Utah, he must at least assume the appear- 
ance of being one. 

He said, " In the spring we will go to California, and in 
the mean time, I will say nothing about being a 4 Gentile ;' 
and I will also pay my tithing regularly, and if they do not 
press me too closely, I can pass for a good enough Mormon to 
keep them quiet until we get away." 

The balance of the winter passed very pleasantly. We 
were very careful not to make our new relation, now fully 
understood by none but ourselves, conspicuous before the 
public, as Smith wished time to establish in the Church a 
character for orthodox Mormonism, in an easy and quiet 
manner, without exciting much inquiry upon the subject. 
With regard to myself, I was still the object of great anxiety 
in a matrimonial point of view, as the following story will 
show: 

Captain James Brown, who I have mentioned in the first 
part of this narrative, had married my aunt. Not content with 
that, he had also among other wives married her daughter, 
my young cousin, a very pretty girl. Captain Brown came to 
my mother's, to make a visit, and stayed all night with my 
aunt ; and the next night he returned, with my cousin, and 
they also remained all night. The next morning he said to 
me, in a manner, and with a levity that perfectly disgusted 
me, " Nettie, night before last, I lodged with your aunt, 
and last night with your cousin, as you have seen ; and to 
night, I am going to get your consent, and Brother Brighan? 
will seal us, and I will lodge with you." The hero of this 



176 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

exploit was an old grey-headed man and was the true and 
lawful (as the " Saints " reckon law) husband of eight wives. 
I acknowledge I was somewhat ruffled in temper by this pro- 
position, especially thus backed up, as it had been, by an ocu- 
lar display of the working of the system. My aunt soon came 
into the room, and I said to her, " I really hope when the ' Gen- 
tiles ' come to shoot down the Mormons ( an event considered 
by the Church as not unlikely to happen some day), that you 
will be the first one aimed at, for I believe you will well de- 
serve it. I think you are a most ridiculous woman ; you have 
brought up your daughter to believe that it is right and neces- 
sary for her salvation to marry an old white-headed man, her 
father-in-law." My aunt replied very quietly. " I think your 
mother has not instilled quite Mormonism enough into your 
mind for your good, my girl." " My mother ?" said I. " Do 
you not think I have some idea of what is reasonable and 
honorable myself?" Captain Brown, after hearing so much of 
our conversation, took his hat, and went to the Prophet: and 
told him I was speaking disrespectfully of the Celestial Law. 
Brother Brigham directed him to bring me with my aunt to 
his house that evening, and they would talk to me of the con- 
sequences of such sentiments. When Captain Brown return- 
ed he was quite cheerful, and said very pleasantly to me, 
" Brother Brigham has sent you an invitation to visit him 
this evening, with us. I think we shall have a pleasant time, 
will you go V 1 I knew better than to decline, and I accord- 
in o-ly went. We found Brigham with his first wife, Eliza 
Snow, and another of his wives. We had been there some 
ime. and the Prophet had exerted himself to make the visit 



Narrow Escape from becoming a Spiritual. 177 

easy and agreeable, when he at length turned to me and said, 
"Well, Nett, what do you think about men who marry .heir 
step-daughters?" "And half sisters," said I. "That is not 
the question I asked you," said the Prophet with severity. 
" I know it is not" replied I ; " but the first wife of George 
Watt has occasion to ask this question very often, as his 
second wife claims it as her right, to take the lead in the man- 
agement of home affairs on the ground that she is the half- 
sister of her husband, they having a common mother. The 
spirits of a half brother and sister, husband and wife, w T ould 
be likely to be the most congenial." 

The Prophet appeared somewhat nettled at this, and said, 
" I discover you are in the habit of making light of sacred 
matters. Have you never received the gift, and felt the 
power of the Holy Ghost, which it is the privilege of every 
one to feel who has been confirmed under the hands of one 
of the Apostles of Jesus Christ ?"* " I was confirmed " I 
replied," by John C. Page, at that time one of the Apostles, but 
he has since apostatized, which may account for my not having 
experienced the change of which you speak. And yet I 
must admit that I was at one time healed by old father Baws- 
ley, under peculiar circumstances. I had the rheumatism in 
my right arm, for several months, and at length it was so dis- 
abled that I could scarcely straighten it. The old man came, 
and anointed it with consecrated oil, and prayed, and rubbed 
the arm a long while, and I was then able to straighten it 
with ease, and that was the last of the rheumatism, which 

* Sometimes represented to be " Apostles " of Joseph Smith. There 

is a difference of opinion in the Church upon this point. 

8* 



178 Fifteen Fears among the Mormons. 

resulted I suppose from some virtue of the oil, or perhap? 
from the friction. " 

" By virtue of the Priesthood," said the Prophet. " I see 
you must have a husband to strengthen your faith. Perhaps 
brother Brown would suit you. I know he is somewhat old, 
but then you will be less likely to be jealous of him, than you 
would of a younger husband." 

" Uncle," said I, " necessity may compel me to marry you, 
but nothing else will. As far as Mormonism is concerned, as 
it existed eight years ago, I believe it. I am a Mormon as 
Mormonism was then understood : and it may be right now ; 
but T do not understand it. I do not see through this new 
order of things." " But no doubt you will yet," said Mrs. 
Cobb, another of Brigham's wives, who had just come into 
the room. 

The Prophet had watched me closely during this conversa- 
tion, as if expecting to hear some damnable heresy, and I 
knew Captain Brown had represented my case in no very 
favorable light to him, and I was determined he should get 
no advantage of me. He turned to the redoubtable captain, 
whose prospect of being sealed to me that night was now 
growing less and less, and said : 

" Captain Brown, I cannot see that Nett is altogether be- 
side herself, she can get along yet without a husband. Her 
case is not desperate by any means. Plenty of our women 
believe as she does. All she needs is a little time." 

I knew by this what the intention of Capt. Brown had been. 
He had expected the Prophet would have " counselled " me to 
be sealed to him then and at once, which would have been equa 1 



Harrow Escape from becoming a Spiritual. 179 

to a command to do so ; and a refusal would have involved 
me in serious difficulty. I therefore took occasion to say to 
him what I understood to he his aim in citing me before the 
Prophet. 

The latter said to me." No matter as to that. All you have 
to do is to obey ' counsel,' and if you do not do that, you 
know the consequences as well as Captain Brown." 

The Prophet possesses the faculty of settling such differ- 
ences, and harmonizing discordant elements, without compro- 
mising his dignity or authority to a remarkable degree. The 
constant recurrence of similar cases has made him an adept in 
reading human nature, and enables him to divine at once, if 
there should chance to be a selfish, or personal motive at the 
bottom, and by his skillful use of the cant phrases in common 
vogue among them, in which are embodied the ever present, 
and ever acknowledged idea of his divine commission, he is 
in general enabled to make a favorable impression upon both 
parties, and, to use his own words, " to strengthen the stakes 
of Zion." 

As for myself, this interview admonished me of the delicacy 
of my position, and especially that it behoved me to avoid, 
'ather than disobey, the counsel of the Prophet. As for the 
captain he considered himself a disappointed lover, and found 
t hard to bear up against the fate of single blessedness to 
/vhich he had been doomed, with but eight wives to solace 
aim. It is due to Captain Brown that I state, that he had 
terved with some distinction in the Mormon battalion in tho 
Mexican war. 



ISO Fifteen Years among the Mojbmons. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

"SEALED" TO THE BUTCHER FOR ETERNITY A FEARFUL 

DISCOVERT. 

I was left in the undisturbed enjoyment of personal free* 
dom for some time after this ; and my life passed pleasantly 
enough, in the exercise of due care not to speak openlv 
against the general principles of Mormonism. 

Nothing had occurred to disturb my quiet, until one day a 
message came in some haste from the Prophet directing me 
to come to his office immediately. I had never for a moment 
hesitated in obeying his commands, and always, I believe, with- 
out thinking it a hardship, for I still believed in him as the 
Head of the Church. 

My readers can form but an imperfect estimate of the ab- 
soluteness of the Prophet's rule, or the cheerfulness with which 
obedience to him is rendered. The performance of this duty 
is counted a pleasure among the faithful, and it is evidently 
the intention of the Prophet to make it attractive. For in 
stance, when he issues a command, he does it under the pleas- 
ing fiction of administering "counsel," although it is well 
understood, that to disobey such "counsel," would betoincui 
the greatest peril, as well for this world as the next. 



Sealed to the Butcher for Eternity 181 

Upon going to his office, I found the Prophet alone. He 
said to me kindly : " Nett, you are determined, I see, to up- 
hold Mormonism, notwithstanding it goes against your natu- 
ral feelings. Being in something of a hurry, I must be brief 
with you. I suppose you understand that I have selected the 
Bishop of your ward for your c spiritual ' husband for eter- 
nity. I have done this in order to effect some things about 
which I cannot be very explicit to-day, as I have not time. 
But he is a good man, such as would suit me if I were a 
woman. You need not live with him on earth unless you 
w r ish. But it is necessary to have a husband to ' resurrect ' 
you. And more than that, it has become your duty to 
have children ; but I do not now feel at liberty to insist upon 
such a thing. Brother Jones has spoken to me several times 
about you, and I think myself, it is a good plan to have you 
* sealed ' before you get an opportunity of marrying a * Gen- 
tile.' The place is filling up with them, but I'll put a stop to 
their career before long." 

I was at first somewhat alarmed ; but before he had 
finished I regained my self possession. I told him about 
Smith, hoping he would give his consent to my being ' sealed ' 
to him, as Smith passed now for a Mormon. 

To this the Prophet objected, saying, " he is a stranger, 
and had better stay and be tried before he marries a Mor* 
mon girl. He should go upon a mission and return honor- 
ably, pay his tithing, work on the Temple, and the like, 
before he thinks of being ' sealed ' to any of us." 

To which. I replied, " Brother Brigham, I very much fear 
1 shall not want Nathaniel Jones in heaven, as I have so 



182 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

great an aversion to him on earth. But as far as marry- 
ing for eternity is concerned, one would be the same as 
another. You may therefore perform the ceremony with what- 
ever unction and virtue may belong to your office; but it 
will not do for time. I trust you will remember that I would 
rather die ; and I shall pay no attention to it until after 
death. That is the way I understand it." Brother Brigham 
replied, " Just as you and brother Jones can agree about that." 
I had before this seen the danger of disobeying the Pro- 
phet's " counsel ;" but it was a great mystery why he wished 
me to be sealed to brother Jones. At all events, I dare not 
disobey, and to falter, was an implied disobedience. 

Nathaniel V. Jones was a very fine looking man, about 
thirty years of age. He was over six feet in height, and in 
appearance was interesting and noble ; but he was well 
known to be a hard, cruel man, as the sequel of his story will 
show. He was the bishop of our ward, and by trade a 
butcher. He soon came into the office, and sat down by my 
side, looking very sedate, and after a moment he said, 
H Brother Brigham, I think upon the whole we have made a 
very good selection." Then looking at me, he said, " Mary 
Ettie, do you feel competent to fill the mission that has been 
appointed you ?" I replied, " Sir, I do not fully understand 
your meaning, but I can try to do almost anything." 

Hereupon the Prophet rose up, and said, " We will now 
proceed, with your own free will and consent, Nett." 

I was so much excited, that it was with difficulty I could 
stand. I trembled from head to foot ; Dut I managed to re- 
ply, "Not with my free will. My consent is given with 



Sealed to the Butcher for Eternity. 183 

reluctance." I supposed this reply would induce Jones to 
make some inquiry as to the state of my feelings concerning 
the matter ; but he paid no attention to what I had said. 

Brigharn Young then read over the Celestial Law concern- 
the matter of " sealing " for eternity. I cannot recall the 
ceremony in form ; but I recollect we were " sealed " against 
all sins excepting the shedding, or consenting to the shed- 
ding of innocent blood. The shedding of innocent blood 
being understood to mean, taking the life of a Mormon, 
or of the Lord's Anointed. Brother Brigharn told me 
I must expect to obey all " counsel " brother Jones might 
see fit to give me upon all matters of importance. I 
made no reply, but put on my bonnet, and went to brother 
Kimball's, greatly distressed, and asked his first wife, if she 
knew what to think of such proceedings. She told me, with 
an air of sadness, she was not at liberty to disclose it to me, 
if she knew all they intended me to do. Not so much from 
what she said, as from what she declined to say, I saw myself 
in the hands of those who had some views in regard to my 
future, of which I was not informed, and upon which I had 
not been consulted. I felt myself beset by a mysterious 
power, not beyond my control only, but beyond my know- 
ledge. Mormonism was assuming a new and fearful form. 
From regarding it with feelings of reverence and love, which 
from childhood had been my wont, I began to quake an^ 
tremble at its encroachments, and now I shuddered outright 
under the vague sense of an approaching evil, too hidden for 
my detection, and too powerful for my resistant 

Oppressed with this conviction, I went home, 1 



184 Fifteen Yeaks among the Mormons. 

Smith there, that I might inform him of the new turn affairs 
had taken with me ; and indulging the wish that he might 
find some way by which we could escape from the dangers 
that thickened around us. But before I saw him, Jones 
came to our house, and said, " Mary Ettie, I wish you to 
board at my house, and teach the ward school." 

I told him I could not come then, and gave him some 
excuse which satisfied him for the time. Jones had but one 
wife, whose name was Rebecca. She was a sickly woman, 
apparently just gone with the consumption, but she afterwards 
recovered, "\hen Jones left home for a year or two upon a 
mission, as he did soon after this. 

Within a few days, Smith came in, and I told him what 
Brigham had done, and what I had reason to expect. He 
was very much disturbed at hearing my story, and after list- 
ening seriously to the whole of it, he said, "Nettie, if you 
can, you had better avoid going to Jones's ; but if he insists 
upon it, you must go. But never yield to what he no doubt 
intends to extort from you, i. e. to become his wife in fact." 
As he said this, his voice fairly trembled with rage and manly 
resolution. I begged him to calm himself, as I saw the idea 
of open resistance was in his mind. After the reflection of a 
moment, he did so ; and then we calmly discussed our posi- 
tion, and coolly looked the danger in the face. 

He at length said, " Trust not in the arm of flesh, Nettie ; 
but pray to your Heavenly Father for deliverance — to the 
God of the Bible — to the Christian's hope — not to this Mcr 
raon ideality. I can see no way by which I can get away 
from here with you at present. I would to God I could. I 



Sealed to the Butcher for Eternity. 185 

have taken a farm about fifty miles from here, and I have 
given currency to the idea that I am a Mormon, and if I am 
not betrayed, I shall yet accomplish what has been so long 
the wish of my heart. I shall pay my tithing, and do every- 
thing that Mormonism can require of me that is not positively 
wrong, until I can get the recommendation of my bishop, and 
then we can marry under the provisions of their own creed." 

Smith's hopeful view of the future somewhat cheered me, 
but when he left, I still had serious forebodings. He had 
scarcely gone from the house, when brother Jones came in, 
and said to me, " I wish you to come up, and stay with Ee- 
becca a few days. lam going away. Will you come ?" I 
replied, M I can do anything from which there is no escape." 
To which he said, " You always make that reply. After a while, 
I will see if you will do anything. People who appear so 
submissive, are generally the hardest to manage in the end. 1 ' 

u I should suppose," said I, " you would by this time regard 
me as easily managed." 

" If you are, I have misunderstood your character." 

He then required me to promise that I would come up im- 
mediately, and left. As I had promised, I soon went to 
brother Jones's house, and found he was going away as he had 
said. When he was gone I had a long talk with his wife, 
from whom I soon learned that Mormonism was killing her 
by inches. Poor thing, she was not the only victim to this 
cruel delusion among the trusting women, who had come to 
the valley believing in the Prophet, and in a faithful husband, 
whc afterwards deserted them for some " spiritual," with a 
younger face, whose spirit was less careworn and broken 



186 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

by harsh neglect. Her agonized soul was crushed under a 
system against which she dare not rebel. Of its terrible bit- 
terness she had never before uttered a whisper. 

Mormon women dare not disclose, even to each other, the 
story of their wrongs; but if not "read of all men," they are 
at least understood by an intuition, sharpened by a personal 
experience among their own sex. "Words are unnecessary. A 
common fate oppresses them. The forlorn look, and wild 
abandon of some, and vacant acquiescence of others, and the 
common sadness of all, tells its own story. It is true that 
many Mormon women find themselves capable of acquiescing 
cheerfully in this arrangement, and many more do so in ap- 
pearance ; but I have no hesitation in expressing the opinion, 
founded upon actual observation made during a life spent 
among them, that at least two-thirds of them, if they were at 
liberty to act freely, would to-day repudiate Mormonism, and 
avail themselves of Gentile protection, if it were once proffered 
in a safe and reliable form. 

It was quite late at night when Jones came home, and 
he went to bed immediately, telling us to be very particular 
and wake him, and get breakfast before daylight the next 
morning. 

He repeated the direction so many times, that it excited 
my curiosity, and I asked Eebecca what it meant. 

After Jones was asleep, she told me something was wrong. 
She said brother Jedadiah M. Grant, and others, had been 
at her husband's meat-market several times that day ; and 
that Nathaniel, meaning her husband, had borrowed my 
mother's dog, and taken it to the market, and had chained it 



Sealed to the Butcher for Eternity. 187 

by the door. Our curiosity was greatly excited by these 
extraordinary movements about the meat-market. Rebecca 
then said, she had no meat in the house for break- 
fast. I told her not to wake Jones, as I knew where he had 
put the keys of the market, and that I would go after the 
meat myself. I could do this with safety so far as the dog 
was concerned, as the animal knew me well, being my 
mother's watch-dog, Pete, and a great favorite with us. 

My curiosity was aroused, and, if possible, I was bent upon 
solving the mystery connected with the market. I went to 
bed and soon fell asleep, but awoke again long before morn- 
ing, and getting up, I dressed myself, and going carefully to 
their bed, took his pantaloons from under his pillow, and in 
one of the pockets found the keys after a little, and succeeded 
in getting away from the bed without disturbing him. 

It had been a dark night, and was none the less so when I 
left the house. The market was nearly half a mile off. Tak- 
ing a lantern with me, I arrived there safely, and found John 
Norton on guard before it. He was one of our nearest neigh- 
bors, and also one of the regular police. He knew me well, 
and also knew of my going to Jones's to stay with Eebecca, 
the day before, as well as that I had been, with the rest of my 
family, upon friendly terms with the Prophet. My brother 
Howard being one of his clerks or secretaries, he had always 
made it a point to treat us with consideration. The Prophet 
had called but a few evenings previous, and taken me to the 
theatre, which was noticed by John Norton, as he happened 
to be in our house at the time. These facts threw him off 



188 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

his guard, otherwise my further progress would have be&n 
arrested. 

As I approached him, he appeared astonished at seeing me, 
and asked where I was going ; and I told him, with an air of 
indifference. 

" Have you the key ?" said he. 

" Certainly : how could brother Jones expect me to go in 
without that V 

He then said encouragingly, " won't you be frightened ? 
Either of my wives would go into hysterics." 

I replied, that I feared the living more than the dead. 
Why I said this I know not ; for if I had known what I was 
about to encounter, I should have fled at once ; and yet, as 
the sequel will show, my answer could scarcely have been 
more in accordance with the facts. He questioned^ me no 
further, and I unlocked the door, while he continued his 
patrols up the street. I found the meat hanging around the 
walls as usual. I had often been there before in the daytime 
for meat. I held up the ligbt, and was about stepping for- 
ward to find a suitable piece for breakfast, when I stum- 
bled and nearly fell over the body of a man, lying at full 
length, just inside the door, stretched upon the earth, for 
there w 7 as no floor to the shop. I lowered the light quickly, 
and was alarmed to discover that it had the appearance of 
being a dead body. I could hear no breathing. I stood for 
a moment paralyzed. A quilt was thrown over all except the 
feet. It then occurred to me that the man had been intoxi- 
cated, and possibly was not dead, and might have been 



A Fearful Discovery. 189 

arrested by the night-guard, and laid there to sleep off the 
fumes of drunkenness. 

This gave me courage, and my woman's curiosity prompted 
me to make further investigation. Stepping nearer, I spoke 
to him, but he made no reply. Determined not to be foiled, 
I siooped down, and with some difficulty, pulled the blanket 
from his head, which seemed to be fastened in some manner 
around it. I was delayed for a moment in undoing the obsti- 
nate fastenings, but when they gave way, a sight was revealed 
that sickened and horrified me. The head fell away nearly 
severed from the body. It was indeed a corpse, just murdered 
as I believed by the Mormons, and by direction and full 
knowledge of the Heads of the Church. 

The blood yet lay in clots upon the ground. He was not 
murdered at that place, as there would have been a greater 
show of blood, but had probably been brought to the market 
after the act, for concealment until he could be buried. As 
brother Grant and others had been at the market during the 
day and evening, they must have known all about it. The 
neck had the appearance of having been nearly severed by a 
strong blow of something like an axe. 

He was a very tall, stout man ; and I think had black hair. 
Upon his boots he wore a pair of Spanish spurs. I did not 
notice his dress otherwise, as he was mostly covered by the 
blanket, and cannot give a description of his features, as I 
was too much shocked to observe anything closely. 

I was never able to get a clue to the history of this mur- 
dered man, or the causes which led to it. He was probably 
a il Gentile," on the way to or from the gold mines, and 



190 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

may have left his company to make purchases at the city or 
something of the kind, and probably had made an imprudent 
show of money ; and thus had fallen' a victim to Mormon 
cupidity. For I afterwards had reason to believe that a mere 
money consideration, was sufficient inducement for the sacri- 
fice of human life by the Mormons, when it was only the life 
of a "Gentile" that stood in the way. This was the first 
proof positive that had fallen under my own personal obser- 
vation, and set at rest forever, in my own mind, the long- 
mooted question, as to the real character of our Church. The 
taking of human life was countenanced by the Heads of the 
Church. And certainly nothing of that kind had been done 
without the u counsel " of the Prophet. It was then a Church 
dogma, that the hand of the Mormon was to be against the 
"Gentile" forever, and in all things. I knew this could not 
be right. 

Hastily cutting some meat, and crushed by the responsi- 
bility of my new discovery, I re-locked the door, and wended 
my way back, deeply regretting the rash curiosity that had 
put me in possession of a fearful secret. The image of the 
headless man, all booted and spurred, still clouded my imagi- 
nation, with the thought that may be some loving wife, a 
stranger in a strange land, was at that moment listening, 
with an anxiety that would not sleep, for a footstep she 
should hear no more, or for the well-known whinny of hig 
steed, while both were lost to her forever. 

When I arrived at the house, Jones was just getting up 
I went directly to the kitchen, where he soon followed me, say- 
ing, in an excited manner, " Mary Ettie, where have you been t* 



A Fearful Discovery. 191 

I told him very calmly that 1 bad been after seme meat. 

" What possessed you to go !" said he. 

" What do you think ? The evil one perhaps." 

He replied, u I intended to have gone for the meat myself.' 1 

I called his attention to what I had told him the day 
before, to the effect that " I could try to do almost any- 
thing." 

" I recollect it," said he, " and I will try you. To-night 
you must sleep in my bed. It will not do to allow a woman 
w T ho knows what you have discovered this morning by 
intrigue, to live without a husband to control her. You 
must remain here to-day, and to-night you must yield to the 
decree of fate." 

" And before night, perhaps," said I. 

He took my hand, and said reverently, u May the Lord 
bless you, Mary Ettie." 

He then left immediately, saying he might not be at home 
that evening, but expected to. 

I have no words at command by which to express my 
state of mind when left alone. I saw a crisis in my affairs 
was approaching. I had suffered so much already that it 
appeared impossible for humanity to bear more. I went to 
my chamber, and kneeled down, and prayed my Heavenly 
Father for protection from this new danger that threatened 
me ; but when I had laid my soul's agony before Him, with 
the full conviction that I had no other hope, it there occurred 
to me to doubt whether I had any hope even there; and that 
I had often prayed to be delivered from the oppression of 
cruel men, and that I was unprotected still. Then a terrible 



192 Fifteen Teaks among the Mormons. 

thought came into my mind. The cold hard reality of my 
earthly lot froze my soul with horror The iron of despaii 
went to my heart, and I cowered shivering upon the floor. 
When I rose again, my soul had taken measures for its own 
protection. During the day, I went to the office of Dr. 
ITodgekiss and procured a phial of laudanum, which I secreted 
safely about my person, and returned to Jones's house. 



The Escape. 193 



CHAPTER XVIII 



THE ESCAPE. 



The day was passed in a state of mind bordering upon 
insanity. Not once did rny soul relent its high purpose. I 
thought often of Smith. It was hard to part; but either 
alternative was the same as far as he was concerned. If I 
submitted to Jones, Smith was lost to me, and if dead, I was 
lost to him. It was all the same ; I chose to die rather than 
submit to vileness or violation. 

Jones did not return that evening, and I went to bed to pass 
a sleepless night of agony. I fell at times into an unsound 
sleep only to start affrighted by horrid dreams, and I was 
glad to see the light again. But early enough in the morn- 
ing he returned. I knew when he came in his hands were 
polluted by the stain of innocent blood, and that the object 
of his absence had been to put aside all traces of his victim. 
But why should I hate him alone for that ? Was he not 
acting in concert, and even under the direct orders of the 
Prophet and the Heads of the Church ? Jones went to his 
room, and dressed himself very finely, and after breakfast 
called me in, saying he would like to have some conversation 
with me. As I went in, I found him sitting in a large rock- 

9 



194 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

ing-chair. His room was pleasantly furnished. He said, 
" Sit down upon my lap, Mary Ettie ; you can do it now as 
well as a month from now." 

I did not move, but stood perfectly amazed, and yet this 
was what I had expected. He said at length, " Have you 
forgotten what brother Brigham told you ?" 

" I have not ; but have you no more principle than to take 
advantage of a submission extorted from me when I was not 
free, but under the compulsion of the Prophet's ' counsel V 
Where is your manhood J" 

" That," said he, " was done for your good, and must bo 
explained to you hereafter." 

" Brother Jones, I will not ask for an explanation," said I, 
" if you will permit me to go to my mother's house. May 1 
go." 

The fiend, laughing, arose from his chair as if to come 
to me. 

" Stay where you are, for I would rather feel the cold and 
slimy touch of a serpent than be near you." 

He laughed outright, and moved towards me again, saying, 
as he came, with a show of resolution, " the bishop is not to 
be trifled with." 

" Neither is his prisoner," said I. 

There was not a moment to lose. Taking the phial of 
laudanum, and drawing the cork, I swallowed the contents 
before he reached me or half comprehended my intention ; 
and then throwing the empty phial to him, asked if he was 
•satisfied, ani if he would send for my mother. He caught 



The Escape. 195 

me in his arms, and rushed into the other room, saying, 
" Rebecca, here, Mary Ettie has killed herself." 

Rebecca, who fully understood how the facts were, replied 
with a spirit I had never before seen her exhibit, "and you 
are her murderer, and I think you will find you must answer 
for it in the end." 

Jones then left me on the bed, and went for Dr. Hodge- 
kiss, and soon my mother and sister Lizzie came. They gave 
me some strong coffee and an emetic, and when the physician 
arrived, he said I was out of danger, and that the quantity I 
had taken had saved me. In my inexperience I had taken 
too much, which had the effect to throw the drug from the 
stomach before it had time to poison fatally. My mother 
did not leave me that night, and in the morning I went home 
with her, without let or hindrance from Jones. The latter 
was under the necessity of acknowledging himself defeated, 
and for some reason he was soon after sent away upon a 
foreign mission. He went to Hindoostan, where he remained 
until the fall before we left the valley. 

Mr. Smith was at this time on his farm fifty miles away, 
but it so happened that he had sent a hired man to the city 
for meat, who arrived the morning on which I had taken the 
poison. The climate of Utah is so remarkably pure, that 
fresh meat, if hung ten feet or more from the ground, will 
keep perfectly well for a long while ; and hence the farmers 
who kept but few cattle, or the beginners in the new settle- 
ment, came from great distances to supply their wants in this 
line at the city markets. Smith's man was getting his supply 
at the moment I had taken the poison, and as. the news so:>n 



196 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

flew, he heard of it> and came to my mother's to learn the 
facts, and then he hurried home. "When Smith heard what 
had happened, he mounted a horse, and came to me in all 
haste. 

The next day I was standing at the window, and saw a 
gentleman dismount at our door, from a noble, but appa- 
rently over-ridden horse. 

I think it will be deemed a pardonable vanity in me if 
I give a short description of the rider. He was a tall, 
young, and, to my eyes, a fine looking-man ; and feeling as I 
did just then, after my narrow and perilous escape, it was the 
happiest meeting of my life. In accordance with the custom 
of the country, he wore a broad Panama hat, white linen 
pantaloons, and a black satin vest, while a sash encircled his 
waist, with buckskin gauntlets that reached to his elbows, and 
leggings of the same, with spurs at the heels. He was so 
covered with dust, that one not well acquainted would scarce 
have recognized him. This was Eeuben P. Smith, and I 
received him with joy, which I flattered myself was mutual 
between us. Smith was impatient to hear all the facts of my 
late peril. I told him the whole story, to which he listened 
with great eagerness, and his heavy breathing during the 
recital told how deeply he felt. 

When I had finished he said, his whole soul swelling with 
rage : " If I ever find that precious scamp out of this terri- 
tory, he shall know the pkasure of having a lariat around his 
neck." u Oh, I suppose," said I, wishing to appease his useless 
excitement, il he would prefer to remain, and have a Mary 
Ettie around his neck." This had the effect I had expected. 



The Escape. 197 

and lie said, laughing : " Well, I hardly think I could blame 
him for wishing that, although it would very much interfere 
with my arrangements." We then went into an earnest and 
serious review of our present position. Judging from what 
had happened since we last met, the prospect before us was 
not very flattering. Smith concluded the best thing for us 
both was, for me to remain with my mother, as quietly as pos- 
sible until spring, and to obey the " counsel " of Brigham 
Young, in everything. By that time he could succeed in 
establishing a character as a faithful Mormon, when he w r ould 
get the recommendation of his Bishop, and we could be mar- 
ried. In the meantime, he thought it best to say nothing 
about going to California." 

He did not wish to excite remark by making a long visit, 
and therefore he soon left me, to return to his farm, saying, 
we should not meet again perhaps till spring. 

When he was gone, I was very lonely. Soon after this 
my brother Uriah was sent to California to trarsact some 
business, and we were still more alone. 



193 Fifteen I'kars among the Mokmons. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MY FATHER'S FRIEND DR. ROBERTS. 

1 was not long idle, but soon fell under the notice of the 
Prophet. I was made an unwilling instrument in his hands, 
for the service of the Church, in a manner I had little expected. 
Since the terrible discovery I had made at the market, I was 
not only prepared to believe his followers were capable of the 
perpetration of any crime, but I fully comprehended how 
utterly powerless I was, alone in the midst of such a swarm 
of his devoted creatures. 

Towards spring a circumstance unfortunately happened 
which well illustrated the state of things at this time existing 
among us. It would appear that an old man. a Dr. Roberts, 
who had lived in Illinois, and was acquainted with my father, 
there, was on his way to California from the States, intending 
to get through before winter set in. He succeeded, however, 
in getting only to Utah, late in the fall, and was obliged to 
lay over, for the winter, near Salt Lake City. He had heard 
before he left Illinois, that my father's widow and some of her 
children were with the Mormons ; and after his arrival at Utah, 
from w T hat he saw and learned concerning the Church, and the 
position occupied by women in it, he conceived it possible 



My Father's Friend — Dr. Roberts. 199 

that we might wish to return to the States. By inquiry he 
had heard that I was living with my brother Howard Coray. 

Dr. Roberts was at this time stopping at Utah, a settlement 
at Utah Lake, about forty miles south of the city, from which 
place he addressed me a letter, and sent it by a brother Red- 
field, who w r as a Mormon ; telling him at the same time, that 
I was at Howard's. 

Brother Redfield therefore left the letter according to direc- 
tion, and handed it to Martha, Howard's wife, who, supposing 
the letter was for herself, opened and read it, without noticing 
it svas directed to me, although I happened to be present. 
The contents of the letter, as near as I can recollect, were as 
follows. The w r riter said he knew my father, who was his 
personal friend in his lifetime, in Illinois ; and that they 
were both masons. That mv father had as a friend and a 
mason, on one occasion, rendered him an essential service, 
which he had never been able to reciprocate before he died ; 
but that he should esteem it a pleasure if he could repay it 
in a measure now by doing his children a service ; and that 
he knew of no way by which he could do this so well, as by 
making an effort to restore my father's family to a land of 
Christian freedom. That unless he had mistaken the state 
of things at Utah, the females of our family would be likely 
to avail themselves of the first opportunity to escape, and that 
he "arould undertake to effect this for us, if we wished it. He 
w r as prepared, he said, to take us along with his company to 
California in the spring. This was a mystery to Martha, and 
without reflection, she read the letter to the company that 
happened to be present ; and upon further examination, it was 



200 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

found to be addressed to me. Robert Berton, who was con- 
nected with our family by marriage, was there, and he took the 
letter directly to brother Brigham ; and it was not long before 
they both came back to see me, bringing the letter with them. 
The Prophet said, as he came in, " Well, Nett, how do you 
do ? I understand you have a very good friend in the Terri- 
tory." I replied that I knew nothing about it; but it 
appeared that some one had taken some interest in- us, but 
I believed it was on ray father's account. " Yes," said Brig- 
ham, " I did not know your father ; but they say you are 
the exact image of him; and that he had a great many 
friends; but this Dr. Roberts is not o-oino: to interfere with 
the gathering of the Saints, nor with the building of the 
Temple. The imp of Satan shall be foiled this time. I am 
going to advise you what to do. I must acknowledge it to be 
a great expedition for a woman ; but you can do it, and 
must." Taking a letter from his pocket, which he handed 
me, he said, " Write him a letter like this." The letter he 
handed me directed the doctor when and where to come and 
see me ; and gave him encouragement as to the object he had 
in view, expressing a desire to go with him. I copied the 
letter by the direction, and in the presence of the Prophet, 
not thinking it safe to decline to do so. When the letter 
was finished, he put it in his pocket, saying, " This shall bring 
in the dimes before we get through with it." Then turning 
to me, he said, "Nett, you look as if you had lost all your 
friends, while I am sure you are getting more every day. I 
wish you could ever be contented, and obey my counsel 
cheerfully." 



My Father's Friend — Dr. Roberts. 201 

" Brother Brigham," said L " this business does not suit my 
taste. I can plainly see how the duty you have imposed 
upon me, If fully successful, is likely to affect at least one of 
the parties seriously. I can see how it will be. I cannot 
think of doing it." 

" You cannot," said the Prophet, giving me a look that at 
any other time would have frightened me beyond measure- 
' 4 You cannot," he repeated, still bending upon me that frown, 
never yet met with defiance by one of the Church, and before 
which even the " Apostles " are wont to quail. " Nett," he said 
at length, in his sternest mood, " what do you mean ? Can 
you not do what you have covenanted to do ? to be firm, and 
unshaken, ever willing to obey the command of your guide 
and Saviour?" 

" Brother Brigham," said I, with a firmness of resistance I 
had never before felt in his presence, " are you my Saviour ?" 

" Most assuredly I am," said he. " You cannot enter the 
Celestial Kingdom, except by my consent. Do you doubt it V 9 

" My belief," said I, " is not what it was one year ago, al- 
though I never expect to leave the Church. I am, in fact, 
not so much in doubt as to the leading doctrines of the Church, 
as I have heretofore understood them, as I am how to recon- 
cile these doctrines, new and old, with each other." 

" Leave the Church," said he, " that is impossible. You may 
yet become reconciled to the spiritual wife doctrine, and I real- 
ly hope you may for your own good. As to that Smith, I 
believe he is an impostor ; that he talis one thing to his 
bishop, and maybe another thing to you. But as he has gained 
the good will of his bishop, and as we can find nothing of 

9* 



202 FlFTKEN /EARS AMONG THE MoRMONS. 

importance against him, we are compelled to fellowship him. 
But now to the point. When tne doctor comes, tell him 
you will go, if he can assure you against all liability of being 
left destitute on the way, at the mercy of strangers in a 
strange land. Tell him you have no money of your own, and 
that it would be too much risk to set out with him, unless he 
is abundantly able to take you through. Now, Nett, in this 
manner you will find out how much money he has, and if he 
has enough worth our while, you must start with him, and ue 
will have what money or valuables he has. For * the earth 
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.' When he comes, first 
find when his company starts, and then tell him you cannot 
get ready until a day or two after they are gone, and that he 
must come after you alone, as otherwise your friends would 
mistrust, and prevent your going. Tell him you will meet 
him at Capt. Brown's, who lives at the last of our settlement 
on the road to California. You can explain to him that one 
of Capt. Brown's wives is your aunt, and that you can go 
there under the pretence of making her a visit. This letter 
will bring him — now, be on hand." 

The Prophet, while giving me these instructions, had 
warmed himself into a better humor, and now addressed me 
in that spirit of genial frankness, so full of winning ways, 
which forms so important an element in his character. I 
saw it would be impossible to disobey him and live, and I 
thought it best to trust in Providence for the result. My re- 
fusal t?ould not save the doctor, while it would endanger me, 
and it was not impossible that I should be able to give him 
some sign of warning when he came, which would iw*- 



My Father's Friend — Dr. Roberts. 203 

ais exposure on my account. I therefore said to the Piophet, 
with an apparent submission to his " counsel," that I would go 
with the doctor, and added that I would take him some other 
route, and we should finally both make our escape. To this 
he said, laughing, "I will risk that, Nett. We have too 
many J Danites ? on the watch, and always engaged in sim- 
ilar expeditions, for that. All the passes of the country are 
guarded. By the way, I find the doctor has been in town 
lately, and provided himself with a splendid carriage for the 
occasion." 

The knowledge of this fact took me by surprise, and excit- 
ing my pity for him anew, I said, " Brother Brigham, I do 
not like to do this." 

" What is the reason ?" said he, persuasively. " I should 
like it, as well as to conquer the enemy in any other way. 
What is he trying to do ? Why he is trying to lead one 
of the daughters of Zion to hell ;" and he struck the table 
near him as if he would have demolished it. 

"I think I have heard," said I, " my father read in the Bible 
long ago, when I was very small, that vengeance was the 
Lord's, and that He would repay, or something to that effect." 

"Certainly," said Brigham ; " but do you suppose He will 
3ome down and do this thing himself ? and that He will be- 
come a visible being, playing smash here among the Gentiles ? 
or will he choose the more natural and consistent way of 
sending His servants to do it for him ? According to your 
opinion, He would not require us to preach His gospel. We 
are in his hands as our servants are in ours. If I should take 
a bridge to build, I should not build it with my own hands, 



204 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

but by the hands of my servants, and still I should be the 
builder of the bridge. So it is with the work cf the Lord. 
We cannot be exalted without Him, nor can he be exalted 
without us. He was once a man striving, as we are now, for 
exaltation, and we shall sometime be gods, of different de- 
grees of exaltation, in proportion as we are successful in this 
world in carrying out the objects of our Church. But you 
must understand all about this hereafter. I have not time tc 
preach to you longer at present. You certainly understand 
enough for our present purpose. You will start with the 
doctor for California, will you not, if he wishes it?" 

" I cannot see how I can avoid it," said I. " Do you intend 
to murder him ?" 

" Nett," said he, earnestly, "you shall not be hurt, depend 
upon that, except that if you do not go, and carry out oui 
plans concerning him, your blood atones for the neglect." 

Summoning what courage I could under the circumstances. 
I replied, "I am not very easily frightened, but that is 
sharp talk. Do you mean exactly what you say ? And 
if I go, will that save his life ? Come now, promise me thie, 
or I will not go. You will not kill my father's friend ? 
Grant me this. I might as well kill him myself, at my own 
house, as to detain him from his company, to give you an 
opportunity of doing it. Eob him if you will, but, I pray 
you, spare his life. Do. Will you ?" 

The Prophet made no further reply, but left the house at 
once, without giving me the least encouragement upon this 
point. 

Not many days after this, a stinger called upon mr ma 



My Father's Friend — Dr. Huberts. 205 

ther, ard represented himself as living at Utab, and as being 
in want of a school teacher, and said I had been recommend- 
ed to him as such. Although my mother knew the plans of 
the Prophet, she dare not expose them to Dr. Roberts, for he 
was the stranger who had called in answer to my letter. 
We soon made a bargain, and it was arranged between us that 
he should call for me at Captain Brown's, at Ogden city as in- 
dicated by the Prophet. I carried out the intention of the lat- 
ter fully, as I dare not disobey, well knowing my movements 
were under the constant surveillance of his creatures, by 
whom I was surrounded, and that the consequences of any 
attempt on my part, to thwart his plans, would be visited 
upon my own head in the most summary manner. Indeed the 
steps of the doctor, were dogged from the time he entered the 
city, until he ieft it : and every word uttered by him, while 
there, was reported immediately to the Grand Presidency. 
Even his interview with me, and the manner he was received 
by my mother was likewise reported. My readers can w T ell 
imagine the agony of my position. * As soon as Dr. 
Roberts left me, I went in accordance with instructions to re- 
port to the Prophet ; I confess this was the saddest sacrifice I 
had ever made at the shrine of my faith in Mormonism and its 
Prophet. It was not only necessary that I should make a 
faithful report of what had been already effected, but that I 
should do so with a certain degree of cheerfulness, as an evi- 
dence of good faith on my part. For although I knew the 
Prophet would most likely overlook a mere show of reluc- 
tance to do his bidding, as long as it had its origin in nothing 
more dangerous than a woman's repugnance to violence, 01 



206 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

crime, or respect to my father's friend ; yet I knew equally 
well, that the first show of " heresy " or want of faith in him, 
would be fatal to me. 

The real difficulty of my position existed, after all in the 
influence which he exercised over me in common with all the 
Church. I could not divest myself of the idea of his divine 
commission. I could not bring myself to disobey him. lie 
claimed to be my Saviour ; and I had been educated to believe 
that his claims, however extravagant, were not to be disputed ; 
and it was long after this, before I came seriously to question 
his pretension as a Prophet of God : and even to-day, I some 
times falter in the intention of giving these facts to the public, 
when some new doubt clouds my future, and my belief in the 
true God. Often am I startled from sleep at night, with the 
inquiry, " is he not the Prophet, and will not his curse reach 
me beyond the grave ? Am I not at war with my fate ! And 
if so, will not my future be terrible ?" Although I doubted 
and rebelled against the new forms our faith was assuming, 
and against that which, among many of us, both men ana 
women, was regarded as of doubtful orthodoxy, yet no ques- 
tion of the legitimate and fundamental principles of Mormon- 
lsm had ever been seriously entertained by me. 

It was not merely a question of my own existence in this 
hfe, but of that also of the dread future : I believed both to 
be under the control of the Prophet. 

When I arrived at the Prophet's house I found him 
there. He said as I entered, " Well, Nett, how is your 
honor ?" 

This was a familiar form of address, he was in the habit of 



My Father's Friend — Dr. Eoberts. 207 

using with those he wished to flatter. To which I replied; 
* I have none." 

"What have you done with it" said he, laughing. 

My heart was too full for trifling ; but I felt the necessity 
of disguising the real state of rny feelings under an assu- 
med plav of words — an airy badinage that should disarm his 
suspicions of my unwillingness to go on with the work ho 
had assigned me ; and I replied, " I must have left it in the 
waters of the Mississippi where I was baptized, for if I ever 
had any, it was when I was a child ; I certainly have none 
now." 

" And yet," said he, " you are on hand to roll on the work 
of the Lord. You are aware that a Temple must be built, 
in order that blessings may be bestowed upon the Saints more 
abundantly ; and you will yet be as clay in the hands of the 
potter." 

I then gave him an account of what I had done : and of 
all that had been said, and arranged between Dr. Roberts and 
myself: with which he was very much delighted. 

Hiram Clauson was in the room, absorbed in the study of 
a tragedy, a part in which he was to play at the amateur thea- 
tre, kept up by him and others, as one of the amusements 
encouraged by the Prophet. 

He was a young man of good parts, who had one wife 
already, and was now seeking the hand of Alice, a daughter 
of the Prophet, for another. The latter turned very much 
elated and said, " Brother Hiram, you may take my horse 
and buggy, and go with Nett to Ogden city and leave her at 
Captain Brown's." 



208 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

" Your will is my pleasure, 1 ' said Hiram Clauson, " I suppose 
you will let Alice go with me, will you not, brother Brigham V 1 

" Certainly, my son," said the Prophet, caressingly, " and if 
you are faithful, you shall have her for a wife some day." 

The good humor of the Prophet was judiciously seized upon 
by the ambitious lover, to secure the prize he had so much 
coveted. It was very naturally esteemed a high honor among 
the marriageable men, to win a daughter of the Prophet for a 
wife : and brother Clauson went off in fine spirits, to get the 
horse and carriage ready, while I went home to prepare tor 
the journey. 



Preparing to Entrap an Old Ma>. 209 



CHAPTER XX. 

PREPARING TO ENTRAP AN OLD MAN. 

It was with sad misgivings that I prepared to go upon the 
infamous mission, from which I now saw no escape. It was 
already well on towards noon, and no time was left for reflec- 
tion. I was scarcely dressed for the occasion, when Hiram 
Clauson drove to the door, with Alice in the carriage. He, 
already the husband of one wife, and now happy in finding 
himself affianced to another : while she, young and innocent, 
but little comprehended the cruel future to which spiritual 
wifeism was about to consign her. 

Stepping into the street, prepared to go, I said, " good morn- 
ing, sister Clauson." 

" What do you wish me to understand," said Alice. 

" Nothing more than that your father gave his consent 
this morning, in my presence, to your marriage with Hiram." 

44 There Alice," said brother Clauson," what did I tell you ? 
you did not believe me." 

" How can one believe these Mormons," said I ; " but as for 
you, Alice, being a daughter of the Prophet, and not altoge- 
ther dependent upon your husband, you may do well enough, 
for you wil be still under the protection of your father. But 



^10 Fifteen Years among the Mokmons. 

t should advise you to remain single several years yet, as you 
are very young." 

Brother Hiram, who had listened with great patience, and 
apparent pleasure until now, said testily, " Come, come, it is 
getting late, and we must be off." 

To which Alice replied. " I see Hiram w r ould like to drop 
this conversation. For my part I have a deep interest in it ; 
especially now that my father has given me away to a man 
who has one w r ife already, and is courting another besides me, 
and both of them much handsomer than I am." 

Hiram appeared greatly nettled at the turn the conversation 
was taking ; for what Alice had stated was true. He was court- 
ing a third wife, and of the three Alice was the least beauti- 
ful. His young head was already fired with the ambition of 
having many wives, which, next to the favor of the prophet, 
was the surest passport to public favor and preferment in the 
Church; and he said with ill-disguised impatience, "Come 
now, girls, the horse is becoming restive, and will not listen 
to such folly ; I am unable to hold him." 

Finding him in earnest, we got into the carriage, and he 
drove into the country, in the direction of Ogden city. Our 
course was northerly, and lay for a short way along the bank 
of the gentle Jordan. It was one of those clear, bright morn- 
ings so common in this climate. The balmy breath of spring, 
which exists nowhere in such perfection as among the snow- 
capped mountains of Utah, fanned the cheek into a ruddy glow 
of health, and expanded the lungs to their fullest capacity. 
The air of Utah appears to have been made for the especial 
use of the lungs. The simple act of breathing in such an 



Preparing to Entrap an Old Man. 211 

atmosphere, is a pleasure. Under any other circumstances I 
should have enjoyed the ride very highly. 

Once in the open country, when the cloud occasioned by 
our joint attack upon Hiram had passed away, our little party 
were in the best of spirits, except that my own soul was 
secretly upon tha rack to provide some escape for the doctor, 
or to avoid having anything to do with his destruction my- 
self. 

It was easy to see that the young people were happy to be 
near each other. Hiram, evidently intending to call out a reply 
from Alice, said at length, u What a lovely spring we have P 

"Yes," said Alice, U I hope we shall have a pleasant 
time. I was thinking, Nett, what an exalted opinion you 
ought to have of yourself, to be trusted upon such a mis- 
sion as this. You can hardly imagine how highly my father 
has spoken of you. He thinks you quite a heroine." 

" Indeed. Did he send any further instructions by you ?" 

"No," said Hiram. "I presume he thinks you are equal to 
the management of the affair yourself. He says you under- 
stand what is wanted, and if you wish, you can accomplish it. 
But he is getting impatient with you on account of your un 
willino-ness to obev his counsel. How dare vou think of not 
granting any request he may make of you ?" 

" Oh ! as for that, I dare think for myself, however it may 
be with what I have dared to do, or may dare. No one can 
read my thoughts." 

" Except my father ?" said Alice. 

" Oh, your father ? why do you ask such a question ? But 
how am I to get back, Hiram ! ' 



212 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

" I am going to leave Alice to come back with you." 

" That is right," said Alice. " And we are going U. 
run off with the old doctor. Nett is willing I should be first, 
and she will be second V 

" I see," said Hiram, " you think it quite an object to be 
the first wife. I cannot see what particular difference it could 
make. But you forget that Gentiles have but one wife." 

u No matter," said Alice, " he will undoubtedly waive that 
objection for this once for the benefit of romance. Let me 
see, there will be a moon to-night. It will be enchanting to 
elope by moonlight along this beautiful road, and then away 
among the mountains, with a fine old gentleman, whose head 
is silvered by a good old age. Hiram, do let us go off* with 
him. What inducement can we offer you to keep still until 
we are too far gone to be overtaken ?" 

" Inducement ? Why, Alice, that would cost me my head. 
And besides, it would be impossible for you to get away." 

Thinking this trifling upon a dangerous subject had been 
carried far enough, as it might lead to serious suspicions as to 
myself, I said, laughing, " Hiram, do you think we would 
go?' 

" He knows very well," said Alice, " that I would, before I 
would be given away like an old mule to a man who has al- 
ready one wife, and is seeking for others." 

By common consent we hereupon dismissed the subject 
with a laugh ; but I detected in the face of each, a trace of 
serious concern which harmonized with a similar anxiety 
within my own heart. This sprightly and somewhat preco- 
cious girl, although educated under her father's personal in- 



Preparing to Entrap an Old Man. 213 

fluence, and never doubting- Mormc/nism, indeed never dream- 
ing that to doubt was within the range of possibilities with 
her, yet now, when her budding womanhood was about to 
assert its sway over her woman's nature, she felt impelled, by 
an instinct wiser than her own experience, and beyond her 
own control, to reject that part of Mormonism which ignored 
her woman's individuality — which cut her off from all the 
irue woman holds most dear — the right to possess, and hold 
within the silken meshes of her love-enslavement, one man — 
all her own. Without knowing it, she already stood braced, 
as all Mormon women do, against this unnatural invasion of 
her rights. I studied her position carefully, as a commentary 
upon, and justification of my own refusal to be one of many 
wives ; and as I recognized in her fine appreciation of the 
noble instincts that stirred within her, an evidence of a supe- 
rior womanhood, I foresaw a dark shadow rising to becloud 
her future. And the prospect before Hiram was scarcely less 
disheartening. The spirit of rebellion, which exhibited itself 
in Alice, against the claims of the other wives, is still stronger 
after marriage ; and I am of the opinion, that the end of 
spiritual wifeism is as disastrous in its influence upon the 
men as it is upon our sex. This unquiet chafing within their 
own family circles, creates a necessity, as well as a wish, to 
escape from the annoyance of their little wife communities, and 
hence the love of home and family is constantly decreasing, 
and the individual family is becoming more and more ab- 
sorbed and swallowed up in that greater community of the 
Church, of which the "Prophet" form3 the controlling centre 
and chief interest. 



214 Fifteen Years among the, Mormons. 

Nothing has so much surprised me since my arrival in the 
States, as the quiet and delightful peace which characterizes 
the domestic relations of the Christian families with whom it 
has been my privilege to associate ; and I am led to believe, 
that this perfect individuality, existing in each separate fami- 
y in this Christian land, cemented by the love and influence 
of one wife and mother, is the real foundation on which rests 
the future good of the State, and that the latter will be safe 
and enduring, just in the proportion that these families re- 
main as they are — isolated, virtuous, and strong. 

We arrived in due time at Capt. Brown's. As we drove 
up to the door my aunt and the captain came out to meet 
us, the latter saying, in his pleasantest mood, " Well done, 
Nett. I knew you would come home at last," which I re- 
ceived as an evidence of a wish on his part to efface, as far as 
possible, the unpleasant recollections connected with his fail- 
ure in getting himself sealed to me on a former occasion ; 
and I met him in a similar spirit. The object of our visit was 
well understood by them, and they were charged, under pri- 
vate instructions from the Prophet, with the general manage- 
ment of this cruel " mission." The captain exerted himself to 
make our stay pleasant, and as a relief against the harrowing 
emotions which oppressed me, I accepted his efforts in our 
behalf. We had what, under other circumstances would 
have been recognized as a pleasant time, a cheerful and agree- 
able company of invited guests, mingled with the home cir- 
cle, while wit and humor enlivened the scene, and plays, and 
various amusements, were the order of the evening. It was 
late when the party broke up and we retired, and not till then, 



Preparing to Entrap an Old Man. 215 

when I attempted to address myself to sleep, did it occur to 
me, how, like a band of brigands, we bad demeaned ourselves. 
Since we bad, upon tbe eve of an expedition of robbery, and 
may be of murder, resorted to light and airy amusements to 
stifle reflection. Big and bitter tears came to my eyes, as I 
reflected that our Church was simply a well organized com- 
munity of thieves and robbers, who were not appalled by the 
sight of human blood, when the success of our schemes re- 
quired that blood should flow. It was enough to know all 
this. It was enough to be unable to escape from the country, 
now fully under the control of men who counselled and perpe- 
trated such crimes, and "from a religion which justified them ; 
but it was too much to be an unwilling instrument for the ac- 
complishment of the unworthy aims of these religious pirates. 
I occupied a bed with Alice, in a room which we had to 
ourselves, I did not go to sleep immediately and I noticed 
she was also awake. Not wishing she should know I had 
been crying, I dried up my tears, and asked her if she was 
satisfied with her lot. She was not surprised at tbe question, 
for young as she was, she had become familiar with this grow- 
ing discontent among the women, and fully understood the 
force of it. But as she did not answer me at once, and fear- 
ing I had been overheard by Captain Brown who occupied a 
room separated from ours only by a thin partition, with his 
young wife Phebe, but eighteen years of age, I added in a 
lower tone, that after all she had as yet no reason to be dis~ 
satisfied, since she was but a mere child, and being a daugh- 
ter of the Prophet, she had less to fear than the generality ol 
her sax amon*j us. 



216 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

"Oh! as for that," said she, "I was just thinking of the 
subject to which you refer. I think if we all do as father 
directs us, we shall soon be able to conquer the whole world : 
and then, Nett, we shall be queens : and father says you shall 
have a great palace, and many servants, chosen from among 
the Gentiles. He says he knows many Gentiles in the States 
who are good to work." 

"Men?" said I. 

" Yes, and women too. Father says the President of the 
United States will yet be glad to black his boots, when the 
thousand years of our reign upon earth commences ; and 
that he will have him at it before long." 

There was a trace of the father's ambition in the soul of the 

young girl. I knew she had been instructed by her father to tell 
me this : and not daring to express to her a doubt in his power 
as a Prophet even if I had felt it, and wishing to change the 
conversation, I said to her, " but do you not love Hiram ?" 

" Oh yes," said she, " I think I do, but then you know that 
his present wife, Ellen, is much better looking than I am ; and 
Margaret, whom he is also courting, is prettier than either of 
us. Don't you think he is fine looking when he plays Don 
Caesar upon the stage." 

" Certainly, I think a great deal of Hiram myself," said I. 

Alice replied ; " and I fear he thinks too much of you, for 
he goes to your house every day, and Ellen tells me he goes 
there twice a day." 

" Don't you understand," said I, " why he comes to our 
house ? He meets Margaret there, as her mother will not 
allow him to come near her house, or even speak to Margaret 



Preparing ro Entrap an Old Man. 217 

[ do not like to have them meet ther^, as I have no sympa- 
thy with this spiritual wife business ; but mother does not 
think it best to prevent it, as your father favors their wishes, 
and would most likely be offended. But Ellen eeems to be 
very fond of Margaret herself; and she is said to favor the 
match. " * 

It was by this time late: and we were just falling asleep 
when we were startled by the shrill notes of a female voice 
at a high pitch of excitement, as it abruptly broke the still- 
ness of the night, loudly berating some one f ;r not going 

* The spiritual wives are exhorted and instructed to use their influ- 
ence to win by every possible means other " spirituals " to the home 
of their husbands ; and this they often do, and for this reason, as 
they say, that if their husbands will have more than one wife, they 
have a choice, and they procure those most agreeable to them, and 
under such circumstances, the husband seldom brings home a wife to 
whom his " home circle " objects. The following is one of the " songs 
ol Zion " usee in their public worship, the teaching, of which like 
much of what is taught in their public meetings, inculcates thU *««- 
trine. 

Now, sisters, list to what I say : 

With trials this world is rife, 
You can't expect to miss them all, 

Help husband get a wife ! 
Now, this advice I freely give, 

If exalted you would be, 
Remember that your husband must 
Be blessed with more than thee. 

Then, oh, let us say, 

God bless the wife that strives, 
And aids her husband all she OKI 



218 FlFlEEN YeAP.S AMONG THE MoRMOKS. 

Lome with her, " a: you have agreed :" said she, at the end 
of her first burst of indignation. We were very soon 
enlightened as to the principal ground of complaint : for she 
made no secret of it. It appeared that Captain Brown had 
married as a " spiritual," an old woman, one of his neighbors, 
who was rich in oxen, sheep, and cows, and, as rumor said, 
he had taken her for the sake of the property. In order to 
avoid the annoyance of an unpleasant temper, which she 
was known to possess, he consented she should still live in her 
own house, and superintend the cattle, where from time to 
time he paid his devotions : and as a general thing he had not 
failed to do as he had "agreed." On this occasion, he had 
been expected to be at her house, but on account of having 
company, or from forgetfulness, had neglected it ; and she 
had now come in person to assert w T hat claims, and to enforce 
what rights were due under the marriage contract. 

When I afterwards saw her, I was not surprised at the dis- 
cordant tones of her cracked voice ; for she was not only old, 
ugly, and haggish then, but had the appearance of originality, 
in the marked discord of the form and feature which charac- 
terized her. I have no power of words at my command by 
w r hich to convey anything like a fair description of the char 
acter, or state of feeling, indicated by her manner of deliver- 
ing the following philippic, aimed at Captain Brown. 

" You are mean," said she, " you grey headed old villain. 
Mr. Brown, you know very well, that you promised you would 
pay as much attention to me as to any of your wives : and 
you have put your brand upon all — yes, upon every one of my 
cattle and sheep. I have told yo , over and over again, that I 



Pkepaeing to Entrap an Old Man 219 

would never submit to be treated as some men treat their 
spirituals. Now come along, and stay at my bouse to-night.' ; 

" Hush, bush," said Captain Brown, " and go borne, and 
mind your own business. You ought to be ashamed of your- 
self, to come here this time of night, and raise such a row 
when we have company. I'll come over in the morning. 
You know, Mary, the business I have on my hands, just now — 
that is the reason I did not come to-night." 

" Oh, yes ; your business — your company, always some 
excuse * * Come now with me, or I will " 

4< Hold on," said the vanquished man of war, " I s'pose I 
must go," muttering in evident bad humor, and loud enough 
to be heard by us : 

" You cross-eyed old fool. You will get your walking 
papers soon, I wouldn't have you for all the cattle and sheep 
in America." 

As he went off with his attractive " spiritual," his wife 
Phebe, who rather more than hinted that she was glad to get 
rid of him, had a fine laugh at their mutual expense : and 
when he was well out of ear shot, the house was in an uproar 
with the immoderate giggling of the seven or eight women, 
who were in bed under his roof. They laughed, and cracked 
their jokes upon the ludicrous events of the night, until fairly 
exhausted ; and would then calm down, and compose them- 
selves to sleep ; when perhaps some new criticism upon the vali- 
ant captain, and the cows his wife had brought him, would 
renew the boisterous mirth until the house would explode in 
a roar of uncontrolled laughter again. None enjoyed it bet- 
ter than Phebe, except perhaps Alice ; who although accu9- 



220 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

tone ad to the ever recurring absurdities of Mormonism, 
thought she had never seen anything more ridiculous in her 
life. The captain had but few sympathizers among us, for it 
was well understood he had married the old woman on account 
of her property, and the assistance it would afford him in 
supporting his other wives. The house was finally quiet, and, 
one by one, they fell asleep ; but for my own part, I found 
myself unable for a long time, to lose in the forge tfulness 
of grateful slumber, the recollection of the sad " mission * 
now upen my hands. 



TlOBBEEY OF Dk. ROBERTS. 221 



CHAPTER XXL 

ROBBERT AND PROBABLE MURDER OF DR. ROBERTS. 

It was late the following day when we awoke. The calm 
beauty of early spring by which we were greeted brought 
not its accustomed joy. Hiram returned to the city, and con- 
trary to my expectations, he took Alice with him. I was 
therefore left alone with my own thoughts, to work out the 
dark " mission," assigned me by the Prophet. I waited with 
no small degree of anxiety for the coming of Dr. Roberts ; 
for whatever was to be the result of the expedition, and whe- 
ther I succeeded in giving him sufficient warning to save him 
or not, I wished the unpleasant work off my hands. Time 
passed slowly and heavily for the first day ; but the second 
was marked by the passage of the company to w r hich he be- 
longed, which consisted of four wagons : oh, how I longed to 
warn them that the Doctor, who was lingering behind, in order 
to effect my escape, was in great peril ; but there was no 
opportunity for that. I was watched every moment. A trusty 
Mormon eye was always upon me. My every movement was 
under the notice of some one in the interest of the Prophet. 

Three days after the main company had passed, if my recol- 
lection is not at fault as to the exact time, Dr. Roberts camo 
on, alone, and called at Captain Brown's, and inquired for me. 



222 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

He brought a letter purporting to be from my mother ; which 
was according to our previous arrangements. I took the let- 
ter, and after reading it, told my aunt in his presence, that my 
mother had sent for me, and that I was going home with this 
gentleman, who I had introduced to her as Dr. Roberts. He 
thereupon said he w r ould call for me towards night. While 
my aunt knew all the Doctor had done, or proposed to do, she 
received him with well-dissembled indifference, and very inno- 
cently asked him if he was a Mormon, and other questions 
tending to disarm him of suspicion. No one among us was 
so badly informed of what was going on as the Doctor, and his 
own movements even were directed by Brigham Young, 
through Mormons, who under his instructions, pretended to be 
the Doctor's friends. 

About dark of the same day, Dr. Roberts returned with 
a very fine carriage, from the direction of the city. It 
was covered, and drawn by two fine horses. The whole estab- 
lishment was well arranged for the journey for which it was 
designed, and particularly adapted to the occupation of 
females. It occurred to me at the time, that I had never 
seen anything so pleasant and comfortable. I was now 
racked by the bitterest anxieties. I had supposed Alice was 
to go with me, as I could not believe they would trust me alone 
with the victim, for the Prophet knew I would give him warn 
ing. But Alice had been sent back to the city, for some reason 
I did not at the time understand. I now believed I was to go 
alone ; and I trembled with excitement at the prospect of 
being able to to put him on his guard, if it was not already 
too late to do so. It was a cloudy night, and was quite dark 



Robbery of Dr. Roberts. 223 

when I stepped into the carriage, which drove off at once, at 
full speed, while hardly a word was spoken ; and I did not at 
first observe that I was not alone. I soon made the discovery, 
however, that I had company, and that Ellen, the wife of 
Hiram Clauson, was with me. Ellen was about seventeen — 
small, delicate, modest, and very pretty. It was difficult for 
me to judge from appearances, whether Ellen or myself was 
most astonished. At first I was perfectly confounded, but a 
moment's reflection restored my self-command, and then it 
occurred to me why Alice had been sent back to the city, 
and that beyond question she had accompanied us in the first 
instance, by the Prophet's directions, only to watch me. 
When my first surprise was over, I said, " Ellen, where are 
you going i n She pressed my hand tightly, as a hint of cau- 
tion, and said, in a tone of voice louder than she was in the 
habit, of speaking : 

" Oh, you kr.ow my father, John Smith ? Well he is de- 
termined I shall marry Brigham Young, and I accidentally 
learned yesterday that this old gentleman was to start for 
California to-day, and I went to him this morning before day- 
light, to tell him my situation, and that I wished, if possible, 
to escape a fate I so much dread. He has consented to take 
me on with him. For which, may he be blessed of Heaven. 
My family think I am at the lower part of the city, washing 
at my sister's, and they do not expect me at home for several 
days , and by the time I am missed, we shall be beyond their 
reach, and if we are not, then they will be unable to tell 
whether we have gone east or west. So I think we shall 
have no difficulty in making our escape." 



224 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

For an understanding of our position, I have only to slate, 
that Ellen was the daughter of Orson Spenser, a well known 
Mormon in the city, and not of John Smith, as she had 
represented. I saw at once the Doctor was lost ; at least 
it was not within my power to save him. Probably the 
Danites were already before and around us. 

The old man, who had listened with attention to Ellen's 
story, said, when she had finished., " I am aware there is a 
great risk in this business, but we shall soon be met by two 
men, who will pilot us to the camp of my party, where we 
shall find those who will protect us, although at the peril of 
life. But for the present, not a word ; we will talk when in 
some safer place." 

Our course lay directly north from Ogden. 

The team sped on through the darkness ; the way led us 
for the most part through the timber. The road was gene- 
rally good, but there were in some places ditches and small 
streams to cross, and we bounded on, and over them in a 
manner, and with a success that was quite miraculous. The 
horses were well chosen, I should judge, for while they were 
easily managed by the Doctor, they yet flew over the ground, 
as if inspired with the high duty they had in charge, even the 
"mission" of our escape. The Doctor was perfectly self- 
possessed, and seemed to be nerved to the highest pitch of 
firm resolve. He must have carefully studied the route, with 
the new of driving over it at ni^ht. His whole soul was 
thrown into the management of the horses. Between him 
an I the noble animals, one would think, there existed a corn- 
iron sympathy ; for they obeyed kindly his softest whisper 



EODBKRY OF Dr. RoBKRTS. 225 

of caution, and sprang forward at Lis faintest chirrup. On 
we flew. For a time my soul was in agony. I felt it was 
too cruel to remain an impassive spectator to the sacrifice of 
the brave old man, who had so generously staked his all, in 
order to rescue two women, personally strangers to him ; and 
it wrung my soul none the less, when I reflected, that he had 
undertaken this on account of the gratitude he bore my 
father. 

The cool ni^ht-air that laved mv burning cheek and tern- 
pies, now on fire with despair, whispered consolation at last. 
For it told me, after the first flush of excitement was over, 
that so much nobleness of effort could not be lost. A better 
Providence certainly must, and w r ould interfere to save the 
good old man. Then the crushing weight of despair gave 
way to the healthy excitement of hope ; and my brain grew 
calm, and I cooly entered into the estimate of chances. But 
there was little ground for hope. Indeed, the more I reasoned 
upon what I knew, the more the visible prospect for his 
escape lessened. The very fact that Ellen had been sent by 
Brigham Young, under the pretense of seeking protection, 
but really in order to watch me, proved the Danites had the 
matter in hand. Oh, the events of that night, and the swift 
ride through the darkness, were scorched upon my very soul, 
to last forever. 

I have no idea how far we had been speeding on, when the 
Doctor, whose ears and eyes were ever upon the stretch, 
said suddenly, with an air of satisfaction, "All is well now, the 
men are coming to protect us against the miserable villains 
that inhabi- this territory. " 

10* 



22G Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Ellen asked quickly, "Doctor, can you distinguish the color 
of their horses !" 

" Why, yes," said he, after a moment's pause, 4C one horse 
is white, and that rather stumps me, for neither of our men 
had white horses." 

She gave me a nudge, and used an expression, which, 
though it did not reach the Doctor's ears, sealed in my mind 
the doom of the brave old man. "But," continued the Doc- 
tor, after a moment of thoughtful silence, " don't be frightened. 
If I w r ere a woman, I should much rather fall into the arms 
of death, than into the arms of these villains. But here they 
come, and are strangers too ; at least to me." The strangers, 
as the Doctor called them, were two men on horseback, who 
now approached us, and one of them said, as our carriage 
came to a stand still : 

" I suppose you belong to the company ahead, sir ? This 
is rather a dangerous place in which to be found alone at 
this time of night." _ 

"I do belong to that company. Can you tell me how far 
ahead they are ?" replied the Doctor. 

" Oh, much farther, my friend, than you will be able to 
get." 

" I am quite sure," returned the old man, with assumed 
indifference, " they are not far off." 

" No, I suppose not," replied one of them ; " but that is no 
sign you will ever see them, you old kidnapper." 

" Who have I kidnapped ?" asked the Doctor, who grew 
everv moment more resolute, as he saw the danger increas- 
ing. 



Robbery of Dr. Roberts. 227 

44 My wife," said Hiram Clauson ; " and my niece," roared 
Captain Brown — both in the same breath, for they were 
the Danite horsemen who now obstructed our further pro- 
gress. 

I watched the old man closely at this juncture ; and if 
I had respected the honorable benevolence of my dead father's 
friend before, I now had cause to admire his manly courage. 
His grey hair, and flashing eyes, were clearly visible in the 
darkness. His left hand grasped the reins, and the spasmodic 
motion conveyed to them by the quick panting of the horses, 
showed how firmly he had them in hand, ready for a dash 
onward, while his right hand rested upon an inside pocket on 
the left breast. I saw there was not a moment to be lost, and I 
said, intending to be heard only by him, " Do not shoot, for 
undoubtedly there are others near." 

" Has he attempted to shoot," anxiously inquired Captain 
Brown, at the same time sidling off in such a manner as to 
put us between his tall military figure and the Doctor. 

" No " said I, " but I was afraid he might attempt it, but I 
think I may have been mistaken." 

The valiant Captain Brown, now somewhat reassured 
by finding our persons between him and the Doctor, said 
briskly enough, " Here, Nett, you and Ellen take our horses, 
and we will attend to the dimes ; and when we get through 
we will overtake you." 

While we were being handed into the saddles the men had 
left, the Doctor sat as before unmoved, and remained so, as we 
judged, until we were out of hearing. Whether he after- 
v ards offered any resistance or not, I never knew ; but I am 



228 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

satisfied that Capt. Brown would have been sent to his long 
account, and his eight wives made widows that night, had my 
caution been delayed but a moment longer. 

We moved slowly down the road in the direction of home, 
until fully out of hearing; and then halted. When we dare 
speak above a whisper, I said, " Ellen, what will they do ? 
Will they kill him ? Oh ! if the people of the States knew of 
the proceedings in this Territory, they would send an army, 
and destroy us, as we deserve." 

" Oh, yes," said Ellen, " if they knew ; but they do not, 
and never will. We are secure among these rocky mountains. 
Besides, this territory is so remote, that no trifling matter 
will be noticed by the Government. A great many crimes 
must be committed, and proof positive must be furnished, 
which will be difficult, with everything in the hands of the 
Church, before we shall be called to an account. Much blood 
has, and must be shed before the Government can get a clue 
to the facts of the case, as all these murders are charged to 
the Indians, and there is no evidence to the contrary. More 
over, the ' Danites ' take care that all proof against them is de- 
stroyed. Take for instance this case. If they kill Dr. Eoberts, 
even his own company cannot show it was not the work of 
the Indians — if indeed the company have not been murdered 
also, as they very likely have, or will be, as they were but a 
small party, and knew the business of Dr. Eoberts at the 
city. The Danites will regard even this a dangerous know- 
ledge to pas* out of the territory in the possession of ' Gentiles.' " 

We now listened attentively for some sound, which should 
indicate the fate of our friend ; but nothing could be heard 



Robbery df Dr. Roberts. 229 

from that direction. The wind beoran to blow with violence, 
and moaned dismally through the forest. Of course oui 
imagination conjured up the most horrible images. We dis- 
mounted, and cowered close together upon the ground, hold- 
ing the horses by the bridles. 

Although it seldom rains in this climate, yet it did on this 
occasion. While we were there waiting, I took occasion to 
ask Ellen how and why she came there. She replied, draw- 
ing herself closely to iny side, " I came, first, because brother 
Brigham thought it would be too bad for you to £0 alone on 
such an expedition. After you and Alice had left the city 
with my husband for Capt. Brown's, brother Brigham and 
Burton came to our house, and told me where you had gone, 
and explained the object of your mission. They then direct- 
ed me to go to Hawkin's Tavern, where Dr. Eoberts was 
stopping, and say to him what I have before told ypu in his 
presence. The Doctor was greatly moved at my story. He 
was somewhat embarrassed at first to know what to do; but 
as he believed what I said, he pitied me, and consented that 
I should go with him, and I came as you have seen." 

Soon after she had finished her account of the matter, we 
heard the men coming ; and when they approached us, Capt. 
Brown asked if we had been afraid ; and to rally and cheer 
us, he said to me, " Your are a brave captain, Nett ; and 
when you want a larger company, you shall have it." 

To which Iliram replied, " She is a better leader now than 
Toiler Rockwell, for he is always sending men to do these 
things, but never goes himself." I listened to this trifling in 
silence. I had no heart to speak. There was nothing that I 



230 Fifteen Years among tue Mormons. 

could do now, as the Doctor was probably already dead, or at 
least beyond my assistance ; and for the moment I would 
gladly have died with him. I regretted, in the excess of my 
grief, that I had interfered to prevent his fighting it out, as 
he had no doubt designed to do at first. Ellen, now that 
all was over, regretted the part she had felt herself forced 
to take in the affair. With a show of sadness I had never be- 
fore seen her exhibit, and of which I supposed her incapable, 
she said to Hiram, "What have you done with the good 
Doctor?" 

Her husband was about to reply, and in fact commenced 
to state what had been his fate, when Capt. Brown checked 
him, saying, " Silence, Hiram, until we see Brigham. They 
do not care about knowing yet." 

" If he is dead, I do not wish to know it," said I. 

No further reply was made, and with a shudder, we each 
mounted behind one of the men, whose hands as I supposed, 
and still believe, were stained with innocent blood, and 
rode through the darkness towards home; and at three 
o'clock the next morning, we arrived at Ogden city, and 
were set down at Capt. Brown's door. We glided, like guilty 
spectres, away to bed in silence ; and the next morning, a 
spring day, calm and beautiful, broke as peacefully upon us as 
if the night which preceded it had not been devoted to the 
commission of a crime, which for deliberate cruelty and pre- 
meditation was without a parallel. 

Capt. Brown and Hiram Clauson were absent for several 
days, as I supposed on some further business connected with 
our late mission ; and we were consequently left during this 



EOBBEKY OF Dk. EoBERTS. 231 

lime at Ogden, as we could not return to the city until they 
found time to take us. After three days, Hiram came back 
in company with Oapt. Brown ; and then we were taken 
home, where I was glad to go once more, and find myself 
free from a forced participation in the crimes which I now 
knew to be the principal business of the Heads of the Church 
to concoct, and the " Danites " to execute. 

It was with bitter tears that I told my mother what I had 
seen, and what I supposed had been done with the Doctor — 
with the grey-haired old man, whose only crime had been 
that he had not forgotten the widow and the children of his 
dead friend. 

We still believed in Mormonism, as we had originally ac- 
cepted it, and we still believed in the Prophet, as the visible 
Head of the Church, because we knew no other; but we 
could not believe the crimes of the Church were necessarily 
a part of Mormonism. " We have fallen," my mother said, 
44 upon evil times ; and if the Prophet Joseph were alive, these 
wicked men would not bear rule." 

But what could two women do ? We dare not even speak 
to my brother Howard upon this subject, and I have no rea- 
son to believe he knew of it ; and if he did, the control of the 
Prophet over him was so absolute, that he would have re- 
garded his "counsel" as above crime. I noticed that my 
mother, who up to this time had held her age remarkably 
well, began to break ; and she never recovered fully from the 
shock occasioned by the disappearance of Dr. Roberts.* 

* The author deems it due to the subject of this narrative to state, 
that he has given the facts of the foregoing case of Dr. Roberts as they 



232 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

were given to him, without a wish, or an effort to extenuate or lessen 
the responsibility that justly attaches to all who, even by implication, 
countenance the commission of such a crime. But the candid reader 
cannot fail to notice, that while at first sight she is apparently culpa- 
ble, when adjudged upon a strict construction of acknowledged rules 
of moral ethics, yet there are many and weighty considerations which 
may and should be urged in her behalf. 

First, she makes an exposition herself of this crime. In simple 
frankness, she reveals a crime, in which she was forced to participate 
by the Prophet, whose influence she saw no means of evading. This 
%ct alone should secure her, at least, our candid sympathy. 

Next, had she refused to render the assistance demanded of her in 
carrying out the " mission," to which she had been assigned by the 
Prophet, she would have lost her own life, without saving that of the 
Doctor, The Prophet and his " Danites " could, and would have 
found other means of effecting their cruel purpose. 

Again, we have to consider that at this time Mrs. Smith was in a 
transition state of mind — just emerging towards the light — still within 
the dark and foggy labyrinths of her Mormon faith, though struggling 
with a half-formed wish to escape from it. Had she entertained at 
this time a clear, well-grounded doubt of the Prophet's power to curse 
her in the world to come, as well as in this, there would be a pro- 
priety, which does not exist now, in expecting her, a mere woman, to 
stand up in opposition to the whole power of the Church. On this 
point she says, chap. 19: "Although I doubted and rebelled against 
the new forms our faith was assuming, etc., yet no question of the 
legitimate and fundamental principles of Mormonism had been serious- 
ly entertained by me." This shows in a clear light the cruel fact, 
that a well-fanned fanaticism, and the fear of ghostly penalties, and 
such like bonds, constitute the magic wand of the Prophet's power 
among the conscientious adherents to this delusion. 

The question is not, whether this was a crime, judged by our 
standard, for on this point there can be no doubt, but whether it was 



ROBBERY OF Dr. BoBERTS. 233 

one when judged by the standard which she acknowledged ; and 
whether, to do this, or to disobey the Prophet, was the greater crime 
— she being still tried by the same standard ? And lastly, admitting 
the strongest possible case that can be stated against her — admitting 
that she had shown herself on other occasions a woman of firmness, 
capable of sacrificing her life, even, for what she felt to be right, as 
when she took the poison in self-defence against the butcher Jones, 
and admitting that she was bound to do so in this case, yet it should 
be remembered, that the same human nature that is equal to great 
efforts and strong self-reliance at certain times, is also subject to its 
moments of weakness ; and at the worst, this was but one of these. 
Upon the whole, whatever may be the opinion as to what Mrs. SniUu 
should have done, the story of Dr. Roberts leaves no doubt as to what 
she did do; an I it furnishes internal evidence of the highest order 
of the truth o c . her narrative 



234 Fifteen 1:eaes among the Mormoks. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



SEALED FOR TIME. 



The short time that elapsed between the events narrated 
in the last chapter and my marriage, passed drearily and 
slowly enough, notwithstanding my mind was more or less 
occupied with the preparations necessary for it. That one re- 
membrance of the old man, who, with his firm, honest look, 
and his white hair streaming in the wind, I last saw in the 
hands of the " Danites," was ever before me, to disturb my 
life with a vague fear, that the Prophet might again " coun 
sel " me to assist in the perpetration of some similar crime, I 
was therefore greatly relieved, when Smith arrived from his 
farm, w 7 ith the required recommendation of his bishop. 

I have before stated, that no marriage can be celebrated 
without a written recommendation * from the bishop under 

* This recommendation must be accompanied by the proper tithing 
receipts. The following is a true copy from the original one received 
by Mr. Smith : 

" This certifies that I received the following articles of Reuben P. Smith, on 
Tithing : 
September 18th, 185 1, by 1 day's work, labor Tithing • . . . $1 50 



Sealed for Time. 

whose jurisdiction the male party lives ; and when this is 
obtained, no legal objection exists to his marriage. With 
this Mr. Smith was provided, directed to the bishop of our 
ward, and thus he stood fully endorsed, as a Mormon whose 
orthodoxy was not to be questioned. 

Andrew Cunningham had succeeded Jones as the bishop 
of the ward in which we lived. He therefore came with Mr. 
Smith to my mother's house, and " sealed us for time." It 
will be remembered I had already been sealed to Jones for 
eternity, which carries with it no wifely obligation, hence I 
was at liberty to marry a husband for time. The bishop 
generally does the " sealing " of this kind ; but none but the 
Heads of the Church can seal for eternity, and this is usu- 
ally done by the Prophet. 

We were married in the morning, quietly, in the presence 
of a few neighbors, not wishing to create any excitement, as 
we knew the whole Church were watching us with something 
of distrust. It w r as generally believed by those who knew 
my history, that I would not be likely to marry any man 
who was a Mormon in good faith ; at least not one who be- 

October 12th, 1851, by 1 day's work, labor Tithing, . . . . $1 50 

" 13th, " " 1 day's do do do 1 50 

December ISth, " " K ton of Hay, 2 50 

January 27th, u " 8 bu. & 11 lbs. wheat on wheat Tithing, . . 12 271 

" " " " 5 bu. & 30 lbs. wheat on Property Tithing, . 8 25 

March 31st, " " 1 day's work abor Tithing, 1 50 

April 1st k 2d, " " H day's work do. do 2 25 

u 22d, " " 60 feet lumber, at 6 cts a foot, . . . . 8 60 

" Pleasant Grove Ward, Utah Co., U. T. 

" GEORGE S. CLARK, Bishop. 
M April 20th, 1852. » Per WM. G. STERRETT, Clerk." 



236 Fifteen Teaks among the Mokmons. 

lieved in the spiritua. wifeism. The fact, therefore, that ) 
wished to marry Reuben P. Smith, who, it was well known, 
came to Utah as a Gentile, had the effect to raise a doubt as 
to the genuineness of his conversion, and to keep us both be- 
fore the public mind. 

After the ceremony was over, we went to my brothel 
Howard's to dinner. "When we arrived there, I introduced 
Mr. Smith to Martha and Howard, as my husband, which 
was the first they knew of our marriage. It so happened 
that Luna, a little daughter of the Prophet, was in the room, 
and when she comprehended what had happened, she ran 
home at once, and told her mother that "Nett had just been 
married to that fellow Smith." Children always echo the 
true sentiment that governs at home, and speak openly what 
older heads strive to conceal. This remark of the little girl 
showed the state of feeling in the Prophet's family towards us. 
In less than half an hour the room was full of goers and 
comers, to wish us joy upon the occasion. The Prophet sent 
us word, when he understood that we had been married in 
that quiet way, that he should insist upon our having a grand 
wedding yet ; and that he would make us one at the Coun- 
cil-house, as this would be the most suitable room for the 
occasion, being large and commodious. This is the Hall, 
since used as a court house. 

Coming from the Prophet, this had a peculiar significance, 
as it proved that while he had us under " advisement," he was 
still willing to treat us. openly, as if we were true to the faith. 
Pacific measures of this kind, gracefully executed, was a lead* 
ing characteristic of this man, who as Prophet and Chief 



Sealed for Time. 237 

Pontiff, has governed the Church, made up of the most dis* 
cordant elements, for years, wLh a success unparalleled in the 
administration of human affairs. 

Mr. Smith, while he saw the necessity of humoring the pub- 
lic sentiment upon that subject, which means the sentiment 
of the Prophet, felt even this to be an intrusion upon bis 
rights. He therefore, with an apparent cordiality, offered to 
pay the expenses of the wedding, but told me privately he 
bad no idea of giving the thing countenance by his presence, 
as he should take care not to get back from his farm in time. 
lie however left money to procure for me a proper dress for 
the occasion, in case he should change his mind upon the 
subject, and return. 

The Prophet had the Hall fitted up in a style of unusual 
splendor, and when the time arrived, sent his own carriage, 
known in the city as the Prophet's omnibus, drawn by four 
fine horses, gaily ornamented, to bring in the guests. When 
the company had assembled, and everything was ready for the 
opening of the dance, the omnibus came for us, accompanied 
by the full band of music. But Smith had not arrived. This 
was at two o'clock ; and they returned in like state at four, 
and were still more disappointed in not finding him. I then 
sent word that some unforeseen obstacle had probably pre- 
vented his return to the city, and that I trusted the assembled 
company would enjoy the festivities of the occasion, none the 
less on account of our disappointment. 

Before Smith left I advised him to return, and attend the 
party, as it would have a tendency to disarm the prejudice I 
knew to exist against him in the Church ; but he had not 



238 Fiftpen Ykaks among the Mohmons. 

then fully decided what to do. I therefore had hoped up tc 
the last moment, that he would return, which I then believed 
to be the most advisable course, and I still think it would 
have been to our advantage. About dark, Edmond Ellsworth 
came from the Hall, with a carriage, to inquire further after 
us, and I begged him not to come again, as I had now given 
up all hope of Smith's coming. I was by this time much 
alarmed, fearing the Prophet would divine his real motive in 
keeping away. 

About nine o'clock, Smith arrived, aud came in with as 
much unconcern as if he had no personal interest in attend- 
ing his own wedding. He said, " they appear to be having a 
fine time in the Hall at our expense ; but they are wel- 
come." 

" But are you not going ?" said Lizzie. 

" Not this time, sis." 

" Oh ! vou must" said Lizzie. " Thev will never forgive 
you, after going to so much trouble and expense for your 
wedding. You will offend everybody." 

"I will pay the expense," said Smith, "and as for the 
balance, the poor old Doctor's bones should satisfy them." 

My mother, who was fearful of the consequences, urged 
Smith to go; but he utterly refused; and while I admired 
his manly courage, and the generous tribute he thus paid to 
the memory of Dr. Roberts, I trembled, when I reflected how 
it might possibly affect us. 

The Doctor's fate had made a deep impression upon his 
mind, and he said it would be barbarous to join in such festi- 
vities, with the " brigands " who had robbed and probably 



Sealed for Time. 239 

murdered the friend of my father. I think I am justified in 
saying, that Mr. Smith, in this, as in everything else, was 
actuated by the most lofty sentiments of honor, and true 
manhood. 

He then wished me to dress as if I was going to the party. 
I did so, and mother spread the cloth for a supper of cold 
meat and potatoes, and we were not without a pleasant, if 
not a joyous evening. Although we had no music and dancing, 
we were acting in good faith with ourselves, and I was con- 
tent to abide my husband's judgment. 

The next day the Prophet sent his daughter Luna, to 
ask me to come and see him. He had heard that we were 
going to California, and it was about this he wished to 
M counsel " me. I asked my husband what I should do, and 
after some consideration he directed me to go. 

When I arrived at his house, he received me with his usual 
cordiality, and said : 

" Nett, do you intend to go to California ?" 

" I am not sure yet. Perhaps," 

"Well," said Brigham, " you never can go; so you had 
better not start. Do you understand me clearly ? If you set 
out you will never reach California. That is entirely too 
much for you to expect. If Smith wishes to go, tell him to 
go on, but he can't take you." 

I was so perfectly astonished at this " counsel," that with- 
out making any reply, or evincing any feeling upon the sub- 
ject, I went home in anguish of spirit, and related to my 
husband what the Prophet had said. I shall not attempt 
to describe the effect of this upon Smith. It was a terrible 



210 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

blow to us both. The fact was now fully realized by us for 
the first time, that the Prophet dare not allow me to leave 
the territory. He was aware I knew too much to be trusted 
beyond the influence of the Church. 

Smith had a drove of cattle, of which he wished to dispose, 
and it was at length thought best for him to go on to Cali- 
fornia alone, and return after effecting a sale of them. He 
therefore left me for that object about fifteen days after our 
marriage, and was absent three months. After his return, we 
made another attempt to go to California, which, as will be 
oseii, signally failed. 



Intrigues of Bright Young, 2*1 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

INTRIGUES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG, 

When my husband returned, he was fully determined to 
leave the territory, and take me with him. But before he 
had time to take measures for the accomplishment of our 
wishes in this respect, the bishop of the ward called, and asked 
aim if he intended to settle in the country, and added that 
ai case he did not, he had better go as soon as possible ; but 
vhat he could not take me along. Smith replied that he had 
flot positively concluded what to do — that it was not impossi* 
ble that, by spring, he should conclude to settle permanently , 
but that he did not like to be forced to go or stay. 

I was greatly alarmed at this open demonstration against 
us ; for I knew how vain it would be to contend against such 
fearful odds. After due reflection, we concluded to wait pa- 
tiently during the winter, and trust to the future and a kind 
Providence for means of escape. We therefore rented a 
place, and went to housekeeping until spring. The winter 
passed pleasantly, and without interference from the Church, 
during which time, my husband made the acquaintance of 
a merchant doing business in the city by the name of Wil- 
liam Mac. He was a Gentile, and had his family with him ; 
but was intending to go to California in the spring. My hus- 

11 



242 Fifteen 1'ears among the Mormons. 

band, when he became well acquainted with Mr. Mac, told him 
how we were situated. Mac said he knew of several similar 
cases in the city, of men who were forced to remain, rather 
than give up their wives. " But," he said, %i this is the way 
to manage it. When you are ready to go, bid your wife 
good-bye, as if you intended to give her up ; and when you 
get to Bear River, wait for me, and I will bring her on with 
my wife. Let the women manage it between themselves. 
Smith agreed to this, and paid Mac seventy-five dollars for 
his promise to bring me. He came home very much elated 
with the arrangement ; and as by this time spring was near 
at hand, he made preparations to leave. He had a very fine 
horse, which he did not wish to take with him, and lie ex- 
changed it for a valuable gold watch, which he left with me 
as a keepsake. On the 17th of April, 1853, he bid me fare- 
well, with the understanding privately existing between us, 
that I was to join him on Bear River within a week ; and I 
have not seen him since. I went with him half a mile, or so, 
when he set out, and took my final leave at the stream, 
known as the City Creek. He lingered near me for some 
time, as if oppressed with a presentiment of evil, and then with 
a resolute sadness, broke away, and left mo perhaps for ever. 
I recollect well the last view I caught of his manly form in 
the distance through my tears. 

I sat down under the shadow of a wide-spreading tree, upon 
the bank of the stream, and watched him, until at last he 
vanished among the hills, and then, crushed with a sense of 
loneliness, and a vague fear, which, under the circumstance^ 
seemed uncalled for, I returned to the city to begin that ex 



Intrigues of Brigham Young. 243 

perience of watching and suspense, which to this da? has no 
end; and He who "tempers the wind to the shorn lamb,' j 
alone knows if we are ever to meet again. 

A few days after this, Mrs. Mac sent her little boy with a 
note, saying they expected to go on the next Monday, and 
directing me to meet them at that time at the bath-house. 
This was a mile and a half from Brigham's residence, on the 
California road. She also directed me to brino- no clothing, 
except what I wore, in order not to excite suspicion, and that 
she had made provision for my wants in that respect. 

I could not confide to my mother, or to any of the family 
my intentions, as they would not be likely to favor the enter- 
prise. I therefore assisted Lizzie in washing the dishes after 
breakfast, as usual, on the morning on which we were to go. 
While we were thus employed together, she said to me, in 
her innocent and simple way, " How glad I am, Nett, you 
did not go to California with Smith, and leave us all alone. 
I am sure it would have nearly killed us." 

When the dishes were out of the way, I quietly put on my 
sun-bonnet, and took the watch Smith had given me, telling 
Lizzie and my mother I was going over to Howard's ; and 
bidding them as I went " good-bye," I set out, as I supposed, 
for California. 

After all, it was not an easy matter to leave my young and 
innocent sister, and almost helpless old mother, in such a 
place, and I half relented when once in the street, and out of 
sight of them. But I thought first of Smith, and then 
of my Mormon Prison, and went on, determined if possible tc 
make my escape, as T could do them no good by remaining 



344 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

I had gone but a short distance, when a man whom I had 
never seen before, evertook me, and with a smile which dis- 
closed at once how much he knew of my business, said, 
44 Good morning, Mrs. Smith. The Prophet wishes to see you 
at his office at ten o'clock." I stood petrified with horror and 
astonishment, wondering how the Prophet could have been 
informed of my intentions. When I looked up at length, the 
stranger was still looking me full in the face, much delighted 
at my embarrassment. His quizzical intelligence as to my 
personal affairs, threw me off my guard, and I said, with an 
anguish I have no means of describing, " Great God ! I am 
defeated again !" The stranger satisfied with his work, 
turned and left me, without further reply. Oh ! had there 
been pity in Heaven, or on earth, at that moment for any hu- 
man being, certainly I was a proper object for its exercise. 

Crushed by this failure, and half doubting Mormonism, and 
yet awed by an overshadowing fear of the Divine power of 
the Prophet, I knew not where to turn. Brigham had told 
me often if Smith was not a true Mormon, my love for him 
was illicit, and for the moment, an oppressive sense of shame 
came over me, as the bare possibility that Brigham Young was, 
after all, the true Prophet of God, forced itself upon my mind 
and checked the doubt which my soul had cherished, perhaps, 
impiously, as to his Divine mission. " Great God, if there is 
any to whom I may pray besides the Prophet, direct me 
now." 

When sufficiently reassured, I went directly to the 
Prophet's office, and as I entered, I said to him, perhaps not 
in the most agreeable manner, " What are your wishes ?' ? 



Intrigues of Brigfiam Young. 245 

Ha boked at me for some moments, with a calm sternness 
which he had never before manifested in my presence, and 
said almost harshly, for he was as a general thing conciliatory 
and winning : 

" I wish you to stay with the Saints, and be satisfied. I 
have a great work for you to do, and a great reward for you 
after it is done. You are mine. The spirit of the Lord tells 
me so. You need not be a wife, but you must obey my 
counsel. I wish your Smith had been scalped by some of our 
white Indians (meaning the "Danites"), before you ever 
placed your determined and ambitious mind upon him. He 
is a Gentile at heart ; and if you ever live with him, you will 
commit adultery in the sight of God ; and your children, if 
you have any, will be illegitimate, and you shall be damned?' 

He said many other things, which I cannot now recall, aa 
the great excitement under which I struggled, had the effect 
to fix only the most prominent points upon my mind. I made 
no reply, but when he had finished, I went home, feeling my 
case was hopeless. I told my mother what I had attempted, 
and how I had failed. I was nearly wild with excitement and 
despair, and she listened with patience to my ravings and re- 
proaches. 

My tears and physical exertion alone saved me from mad- 
ness. Towards night, she soothed me into a sound sleep, 
and I awoke next morning refreshed and calm, and prepared 
to gird up my soul for a new struggle. 

A few weeks after this, the Prophet appointed me a teachei 
of the ward school ; and about the same time, Secretary of 
the Female Indian Relief Society ; the duties of which occu- 



24:6 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

pied most of my time, and I had but little opportunity to lav 
plans for my escape, or leisure to brood over my wrongs 
We received a letter one day from my brother Uriah, then 
in California, with the glad intelligence that he was coming 
home immediately. This gave us all joy, and I was particu- 
larly well pleased, as I knew ho would assist me in getting 
away. He was a fine young boy, generous, brave, and manly, 
and as I had reason to believe, was but little attached to 
Mormonism. He was the idol of the family. While we 
were thus daily expecting him, Howard came in one day, 
looking very sad ; and after a while mother said, 

u Howard, how can you look so serious when we are all so 
happy, making preparations for Uriah's return f 9 

" Mother," said Howard, " do you so certainly expect to see 
Uriah ?" 

" Certainly : he has written he will be here very soon." 

Howard looked at my mother with great concern, for she 
had said this in a manner that showed how much her heart 
was set upon it. 

He said, after a little. 

" Mother, you would feel very bad if you should hear 
Uriah was dead." 

" What do you mean, Howard ? Is Uriah dead ?" 

We needed no further answer. He took from his pocket a 
letter, which brought the sad intelligence, which mother read 
and re-read with speechless horror. He died when just upon 
the point of starting for home. It was a terrible blow to us 
all. My mother refused all consolation, and at one time we 
•supposed she would sink under it. 



Intrigues of Brig ham Young. 247 

Unnatural as it may appear, our Mormon neighbors re- 
joiced at this our new calamity ; for they said, as we then 
had no dependence, or protectors, ray husband being absent, 
and our only brother who was unmarried being dead, we 
should be obliged, Lizzie and myself, to marry some Mormon. 
Our house, at this time, was truly a house of mourning, and 
for a few months following this event, we were as sad as can 
well be imagined. 

By the Prophet's dictum, under whose protection T wa8 
now directed to consider myself, my marriage was generally 
considered void, and was thus spoken of in the Church ; and 
I was liable as ever to receive propositions for marriage. 
This was but a natural result of Mormonism, for Mormon 
women are not allowed to remain idle in this respect. 

Since leaving Utah, I have heard much said about the 
death of Leonidus Shaver. I knew Judge Shaver well, and 
recollect the circumstances of his death. He occupied a room 
in my brother Howard's house ; and died there. There were 
a great many things connected with the trouble between him 
and the Prophet, which I never understood, and I have good 
reason to believe, much more than has yet been disclosed. I 
remember, that one day the Prophet came to the house, and 
inquired for the Judge. The latter was in the habit of lock- 
ing the door, and darkening the windows of his room, when 
not at home, and they were so on this occasion ; which led 
us to believe he was gone. 

The Prophet was very much excited about something that 
had just happened, in conneciion with the Judge. This was 
a year or so before his death. I never saw the former more 



248 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

disturbed and alarmed than at that time, and he talked very 
freely about it. Just as he was in the height of the excite- 
ment, we heard the Judge jump out of bed, and this alarmed 
the Prophet still the more, as he supposed Shaver had 
heard what had been said, which was probably true. The 
difficulty between them increased after this, and one morning, 
the Judge w 7 as found dead in his bed, in the room just men- 
tioned. But at this time, my brother did not own, or live in 
the house, for he had sold it to a Mr. Dotson, who was then 
living there. 

The Heads of the Church made a great show of having the 
case investigated, by which they made it appear, that the 
Judge had died of some disease in the head, which perhaps 
was true. But I heard the Prophet say before this, that 
Judge Shaver knew a great many things that he did not wish 
to come to the knowledge of the Government at Washington, 
and that he dare not allow him to leave the territory. He 
was unquestionably poisoned. 

I think it was in the summer of 1853, that another Judge 
was sent to Utah, by the name of Brocchus. Soon after he 
came he was called upon to make a speech, at a public meet- 
ing, at a time when the Prophet and the Heads of the Church 
were on the stand. I suppose Judge Brocchus knew but 
little of our customs, for he commenced to address the women, 
large numbers of whom were present, upon the subject of 
spiritual wifeism. He pointed out to them its wickedness, and 
(he unhappy results that must follow to themselves and their 
children, if persisted in. He also stated, that it was agains* 
the laws of both God and man. I presume this was th* 



Intrigues of Brigham Young. 249 

first, and :>nly time, that a Mormon assembly was ever ad 
dressed in open opposition to their faith and practice. Cer- 
tainly the only case of the kind that ever occurred at Salt 
Lake. 

The Assembly were greatly excited, and more than two- 
thirds of the women were in tears, before he had spoken 
many minutes ; among whom, Brigham observed some of his 
own wives. All were astonished. It was a moment of great 
peril for the Prophet, and for the Church. One word then, 
spoken by authority and having the physical support of a 
military force at hand, would have brought on an explo- 
sion. 

The Prophet saw this ; and, as usual, he was equal to the 
occasion. The Judge was admonished to desist, and when he 
sat down, the Prophet rose, and by one of those strong, nerv- 
our appeals, which has never been wanting in success before 
a Mormon audience, he annihilated the Judge and the effect 
of his speech. In five minutes many of those whose tears 
had flown most freely, responded to his broad sarcasm in 
screams of laughter. 

When the spirits of the congregation were fully restored, 
he turned to the Judge, and administered to him a torrent of 
abuse. Among other things, he said : " I will kick you or 
any other Gentile Judge, from this stand, if you or they 
again attempt to interfere with the affairs of our Zion." 

The Judge was beaten, and saw the necessity of leav- 
ing the territory. The Prophet afterwards threatened, in 
private, to take his life, but I heard he was permitted to 

leave. 

11* 



250 Fifteen Yeaks among the Mormons. 

Judge Brocchus was succeeded by Judge Reed, of 3ath 
Steuben county, New York; who, profiting by the experi- 
ence of his predecessor, exercised great discretion in his inter- 
course with the Mormon leaders, and became very popular 
with them. The Mormons, on their part, treated Judge 
Reed with studied attention, hoping to efface the unfavorable 
impression likely to be made upon the authorities at Wash- 
ington, by the Brocchus affair, in which they appear to have 
succeeded in a measure, for it is understood that Judge Reed 
expressed the opinion, when he afterwards returned to this 
country, that the Mormons had been misrepresented, and that 
the charges against them were exaggerated. This, if true, 
was in pursuance of a line of policy adopted by him, as being 
the best calculated to meet the difficulties of his position* 
for beyond question he had studied the state of things a 
Utah very closely, and though he expressed his opinions with 
caution, he was certainly not a convert to our faith, nor to 
the Prophet's administration of the Government. 

As he was from the neighborhood of our native place, and 
was well acquainted with most of our family, we were very 
intimate with him during his stay at the valley. It was due 
to the friendly relations existing between him and the Pro- 
phet, more than to any other cause, that we were afterwards 
permitted to leave Utah, as hereafter narrated. It was 
through him that we received letters direct from my uncle, 
Col. John R. Stephens, of Hornellsville, New York; and 
through this channel came the information which finaliv led 
to our escape. 

Judge Reed remained in the valley about a year, and then 



Istbigues of Brigham Toung. 251 

went home on business, intending to return to Utah, but h6 
died suddenly while there. He was an excellent and kind 
man, of whom I still entertain the most grateful recolleo 
tions, 



252 Fifteen Years among the M demons. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE STORY OF WALLACE ALONZO CLAKK BOWMAN. 

About this period, a young man was coming from Mexico 
in command of a company of traders ; and by chance, he waa 
met by Brigham Young at Utah, who was on his way from 
Great Salt Lake City to Little Salt Lake. 

The Prophet was accompanied as usual by his "Body 
Guard," and attracted some notice on the route by the dis- 
play in which he indulged — a kind of demonstration he was 
fond of making when well protected by his military attend- 
ants. 

It is said all great men have their little weaknesses, and 
that of the Prophet is well known to be cowardice. He is 
great in words, however, and withal is a shrewd manager 
of men, and when not threatened with personal violence, he 
is truly great. On this occasion, the state and display affect- 
ed by the Governor and Prophet excited the curiosity of the 
young captain of this band of Mexican .traders, whose name 
was Wallace Alonzo Clark Bowman. This young man was 
a native of the State of New York, and being of a daring and 
roving turn of mind, had left his home at the early age of 
eighteen, and was now in the full tide of a successful career, 



Bowman's Story. 253 

when he thus unfortunately met Brighara Young. He was 
over six feet in height, stoutly built, and well formed, stand- 
ng straight as an arrow, with fair complexion and light hair, 
i broad high forehead, with a keen blue eye and a Roman 
nose. He was as fine a specimen of manliness as is often met 
tfith in real life. He was, moreover, one of that class of men, 
with whom the emotions of fear, or the necessity of caution, 
ire entirely unknown. He also entertained the most undis- 
guised contempt for double-dealing and of religious affectation 
of any kind. In short, having no reverence, and unable to 
comprehend the meaning of discretion, he was the last man 
to meet the Prophet's approval, but quite the man to awaken 
his cowardly suspicion, as he was a specimen of the only class 
of men of whom the Prophet was not a judge. 

The two companies met at Utah, and halted to make of 
each other mutual inquiries as to the state of the roads and 
the like, while the animals were being fed. Bowman observed 
that Brigham was a personage of some consideration among 
the strangers, and upon inquiry was informed that he was the 
Governor of the Territory, and the Mormon Leader. u If that 
is so," said he, " I must make the acquaintance of that dis- 
tinguished adventurer." He then introduced himself to the 
11 Prophet," by saying, he had heard of him and of his reli- 
gion often, though he knew but little of the latter, and he 
would like to be instructed in it somewhat. He then asked 
him to take a seat for that purpose. He told him further 
that he had heard much said against the Mormons, and their 
practices, but he presumed thej' had been misrepresented, as 
all such sects were iable to be by their opponents ; and he 



254 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

should be pleased to know the facts from the Prophet him 
self. 

Bowman said this in that easy off-hand manner, which, had 
it been addressed to an equally brave and simple-minded man, 
would have been met in a similar spirit of courteous inde- 
pendence — willing to concede as much as it exacted. But 
the Prophet was not a man of the generous mould to under- 
stand one of that nature. Though a good judge of the kind 
of men of which his Church was composed, the Mexican 
trader puzzled him ; and he assumed at once the young man 
must have some villainous design upon him. He thereupon 
retired to his carriage, with an indecent haste, that betrayed 
his want of either courage or courtesy, and directed his secre- 
tary to inform the authorities of the City, that he wished 
Bowman arrested upon his arrival there, as he knew by the 
Spirit of God, the trader was a spy sent from the States to 
take his life. 

The fact was, that nothing could have been farther from 
the truth ; and the pretence of revelation, behind which the 
Prophet attempted to shield his cowardice, smacked more 
of unscrupulous villainy than of Divinity. 

Bowman, unawed by this treatment, stepped to the door of 
the Prophet's carriage, and said to him, in that spirit of defiant 
independence which a free rover of the plains feels himself at 
liberty to assume when treated rudely, " Sir, I have seen Gov- 
ernors before, but I never saw one so little a gentleman, or so 
much a bigot ;" and then turning to his men, with a dignity 
the Prophet might well have envied, ordered his company to 
move on. 



Bowman's Story. 255 

The whole outfit and other accompaniments of Bowman's 
party proved he was possessed of wealth, and this was perhaps 
another inducement with the Prophet for wishing to bring 
the young rover into collision with his Danite assassins. 
When Bowman ai rived at the city, he was arrested by Kobert 
Burton upon suspicion of various crimes. This was a pretense 
resorted to for his detention. He was put in charge of John 
Norton, one of our nearest neighbors, who kept him impri- 
soned near by, in a place used by the police for that purpose. 
There was a great curiosity manifested among us to see the 
man who had made so long a journey to kill the Prophet ; 
and among others, I went to his prison. I was astonished at 
the courteous good breeding with which we were received. He 
politely handed us seats, and after some pleasant conversation 
upon indifferent topics, in which our position and sex were ac- 
knowledged, with an easy and graceful address, his eye rested 
accidentally upon his jailer, John Norton. At once his wild eye 
flashed fire, and his whole bearing changed to that lofty mien 
of daring which characterized him when free. For a moment 
his chafed spirit roused itself into the fierceness of a caged 
tiger, and yet the while preserving all the dignity of his ex- 
alted manhood. He said, " Sir, I presume I have not fully 
appreciated the extreme humility of my position in the pre- 
sence of your exalted Prophet, else I should not have taken 
the liberty of addressing him upon equal terms. , ' 

It was amusing to note the effect of this upon John Nor- 
ton, who, though generally a man of commanding presence, 
now stood abashed before his prisoner. Bowman's eye rested 
for some time upon him, during which interval, not a word 



256 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

was uttered. At length, with an expression of disgust, and 
then of pity, he turned from him to us, and apologized for his 
rudeness in the presence of .adies, by saying, " Imprisonment 
under any circumstances is beyond endurance to me, who, 
since finishing my education in my native State of New 
York, have seldom slept beneath a roof; but particularly 
so, when I am deprived of liberty in defiance of my 
natural rights, and without the pretence of justice." When 
we left, he bade us good morning, with as much gal- 
lantry and unconcern as if he had been doing the honors of 
the drawing-room. I came away with a full understanding 
of his position. I knew he was innocent ; but I knew equal- 
ly well that would not avail him. I asked my mother, who 
had accompanied me, what she thought. Without saying a 
word for some time, she shook her head, and the big tears 
filled her eyes. "He is about the age Uriah was, when he 
died among strangers," said she at length. " How should I 
feel if this brave boy were mine ? But he is somebody's 
boy." 

"They will kill him," said I. 

" Certainly," said my mother ; and then we sobbed in si- 
lence, and Lizzie joined in our tears without fully understand- 
ing why we wept, for she had not heard the foregoing conver- 
sation. 

Bowman w;as held a prisoner for several weeks, as the 
Prophet had not returned. When he came, a trial was had, 
and great efforts were made to procure some evidence against 
him ; bu 4 , all rested upon the revelation of the Prophet, ex 
cept thai the latter stated that Bowman was armed when 



Bowman's Story. 257 

he approached his carriage. Being armed in that country 
was not a crime, for no man went unarmed there. But it so 
happened, that Bowman, although generally provided with, 
and well skilled in the use of defensive weapons, had, on this 
particular occasion, left them on his horse, as he expected to 
remount in a few moments. This was proved by all his men. 
He was therefore set at liberty, after an annoying confinement 
of nearly two months. But this did not avert his fate. 

The Danites are called in only as a last resort ; but are 
never at fault, when the Prophet's will is known ; and in this 
case, the Prophet had gone too far to think of relenting. 

When free, he was directed by some one to our house, to 
find a boarding place. His horses were kept near us, and he 
wished to board close by them, while he remained in the city 
to complete some further arrangements for continuing his 
journey. My mother was surprised at the request, as we did 
not keep boarders ; but told him to call again towards even- 
ing ; and in the meantime, she asked the bishop what to do, 
well knowing Bowman had been sent there by him, or at 
least by the Prophet's direction. The bishop appeared to be 
acting under instructions, and told her, as if prepared with an 
answer before hand, to allow him to take his meals with her, 
but not to sleep at her house at night. 

As for myself, I had become so familiar with the Prophet's 
way of doing business, that I was greatly alarmed at this 
turn, of affairs; for I saw clearly we were, in some manner 
then unknown to me, to be forced into the work of Bowman'd 
destruction. 

Ajb his prison was in our neighborhood, we had, with most 



258 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

of the other families of the vicinity, visited him frequently, 
and had become well acquainted by this time. I had never 
been approached upon this subject myself, but I knew many 
of our female acquaintances had been directed to visit him, 
in order to report to the Prophet what he had to say. 

I now felt my time for action had come, and that I was 
again to be forced into a participation in crime. 

In order that my readers may fully understand my connec- 
tion with what follows, they have only to recollect, that to dis- 
obey the Prophet's counsel would have been death to me; and 
further, I found it would be impossible to effect my escape, 
until I could disarm the Prophet of all suspicion he might 
entertain of my intention to escape. My object was to avoid, 
as much as possible, being useful to him ; but, at the same 
time, to obey his " counsel " when there w T as no way to avoid 
it, with a show of cheerfulness and good faith ; and thus I 
hoped again to acquire the reputation of being a good Mor- 
mon — whereas I was now regarded, as well among the Gen- 
tiles as in the Church, as only a prisoner at large. So much 
was I looked upon in this light, that even Bowman had 
heard my story, and had publicly denounced the Prophet for 
thus holding me a prisoner from my husband. This rash 
advocacy of my cause, prompted as it was only by his gene- 
rous and manly nature, probably suggested to the Prophet 
the idea of using me as a decoy to effect more readily his 
ruin. 

Soon after Bowman left, John Norton came to the house 
in some basta saving, "Nett, I have news for you, of great 
importance, from Brigham." 



Bowman's Story. 259 

"Importance to whom ?" said 1. 

"To the whole Church, and in this way. The Prophet 's 
satisfied that if Bowman is allowed to leave the territory, Li 
can and will give us great trouble, by raising an excitemer \ 
against us on account of his imprisonment while here. No- ', 
we wish to hear his mind from his own lips, and we cay 
then judge what should be done. When be returns, Brigharr, 
wishes you to bring him to our house, and make such 
advances to him as you may think best, to draw him ouf 
upon that subject, and tell him that you would like to go off 
with him ; that, if he will take you, you will be his wife" 

" I think/' said I, " he would not be likely to take me." 

11 No fear of that/' said Norton, " for we have come to you 
to do this, from the fact that you are the only person that 
could approach him. He said only this morning, in the 
most public manner, in Blain's store, that if he could get you 
away from this pjace, he would like to see it sink ; and that 
if he could invent any method of getting you to your hus- 
band, he would do so, even at the risk of his life." 

At this point of the conversation, William Kimbal, a young 
son of Heber C. Kimbal, the latter one of the Heads of the 
Church, came up and said: "John, Bowman will be here 
soon, for I just saw him go into Blain's store." Then turn- 
ing to me, he said, "Now, Nett, the Prophet expects you to 
put in your biggest licks; and if you do not, we shall all 
know it, for we shall be secreted within hearing of you." 

" Do your best," said John Norton, as they both left me, 
u and tell him I am hunting cattle, if he inquires for me." 

John Norton then secreted his brother Wiley in our house, 



260 Fifteen Tears among the Mormons. 

to hear what passed between Bowman and myself while 
there. When they were gone, Wiley said, " Come, Nett, go 
and slick up, for Bowman will be here very soon." 

My readers will understand that even the Mormon boys 
are trained, at an early age, in this branch of the Church 
service, and soon become adepts in " milking the Gentiles," 
as robbing outsiders is termed in their slang vocabulary. 
One of these boys was under the age of fifteen, and was 
already well versed in crime. It was with a heavy heart that 
I dressed with unusual care for the occasion, not daring to 
disregard the counsel I had received. At first, I thought I 
could place a note in Bowman's hands, by which I should 
warn him ; but this would be attended with greater danger 
to myself, without a fair prospect of benefiting him ; and 
besides, his known rashness made it hazardous to do anything 
for his relief, more especially so as I should have no opportu- 
nity to explain fully the true state of the case, or how he was 
threatened — and at most could only give him a glance or a 
sign of warning. 

The distance from our house to Norton's, although but a 
step, would perhaps be sufficient to convey this signal, and 
yet I knew many eyes would be upon us. 

When I was dressed, Wiley, who had awaited my return 
with impatience, complimented my appearance, and pro- 
nounced me ready "to do the work of the Lord," with the 
affectation and solemn cant characteristic among the Saints 
when they do not wish to call things by their right names. 
I seated myself in the rocking-chair, to await his coming, 
racked by anxiety. At about four o'clock he came, and J 



Bowman's Story. 261 

received him in the presence of my mother, Wiley having 
slid into a dark room within hearing. I must have concealed 
my agony badly, for he said with a show of alarm, "how 
pale you are, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Coray," bowing to my 
mother, "what is the matter? Has anything new oc- 
curred ?" 

" A little excitement," replied my mother, with an assumed 
calmness, " always makes a baby of her." 

" Her absent husband," said he, " is the subject, I suppose, 
of a continued anxiety with her." 

I was too much excited to act well the part to which I had 
been assigned ; but I made every possible effort to regain my 
self command. It was with some exertion, therefore, that I 
was enabled to say, " I understand you are about to leave us. 
I wish the Prophet would decide upon my case, and set me 
at liberty, and I would accompany you." I said this and 
other things, with a design of encouraging his advances, and 
he responded with his usual gallantry ; and yet, perhaps, con- 
trary to the expectation of the Mormon leaders who had 
assigned me this duty, in order to corrupt him, he did so 
with the utmost innocence, and freedom from an improper 
motive. 

The Prophet had, as usual, reasoned upon the assumed 
fact that all men were open to the seductive charms of cor- 
rupt influences ; and much' of his own success in governing 
the men of the Church is to be credited to a skillful applica- 
tion of this principle : and it is for this reasom that the con- 
dition of a Moimon woman is beyond belief horrible, exposed 
ar she always must be, to the danger of falling a victim tc 



262 Fifteen Years among the Mokmons. 

the brutal claims of some one of the Prophet's creatures, as 
the price of some service or obedience rendered to hirr.. 

I had expected much from the high-toned honor of Bow- 
man ; but he rose still higher in my estimation when he 
refused to understand the meaning of my words. In order to 
cut the matter short as possible, and to secure the opportu- 
nity of uttering to him a single word of caution, while pass- 
ing to the house of John Norton, I affected some embarrass- 
ment at first, to convey to Wiley an idea that I felt myself 
refused ; and then, as if reassured, I said to Bowman, 
with an easy unconcern, which I was by this time able tc 
assume, "come, let us go over to John Norton's. As you 
are about to leave, perhaps you would like to bid his wives, 
Martha and Rebecca, good-bye." 

41 Certainly," said he politely. " I reckon those ladies 
among my friends. They visited me often in prison, and I 
must pay them my compliments before I take my leave, and 
I shall have no better time than now." 

As we passed from the front door into the street, I was 
glad to notice that Wiley did not attempt to follow us. We 
were the next instant alone, on the public walk, and although 
we were together but a moment, and w 7 hile watchful eyes 
were perhaps upon us, I said to him in a hurried manner, and 
in a low voice, " Mr. Bowman, I beg you not to speak, but 
listen to me for the one moment we are to be alone. I have 
time to state but one thing, which, if you rightly understand, 
will be sufficient for your purpose. It is this. I am acting 
under the direction, and by the instructions of the Prophet. 
Are you listening ? Do you understand me ? Whatever 1 



Bowman's Story. 263 

say, think not of me ; but that Brigham Young is speaking 
through me." 

He looked puzzled, then astonished, and was about to 
speak. But we had arrived at the gate of John Norton, anu 
the door was not many feet off. " Hush," said I, and the next 
moment he mechanically rapped at the door, and we both 
waited in silence for admittance. I shall never forget the 
change that came over his smooth, unruffled face, during the 
few moments he had listened to me. He was in appearance 
twenty years older in that time. His eyes were bent in anxi- 
ous thought upon the ground, and his whole great frame 
struggled tq master the words, by which' I had opened to him 
a new source of danger. He would have, faced, undaunted, 
fifty men in the open combat, on a fair field ; but now he 
stood half cowering before a mystery of which his experience 
furnished no solution. But though at fault in this respect, he 
was not wanting in intellect ; and when our summons was 
answered from within, he started as if. from a painful reverie, 
and then the sunshine and a clear sky was over him again. 
Howbeit, I still detected, by certain lines upon his handsome 
face, traces of anxious thought unusual to it. We were showD 
intc the sitting-room, where we were expected. 



261 Fifteen Years among tiie Mormons. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



FATE OF BOWMAN. 



Perhaps the saddest feature of Mormonism as regards its 
own victims, should be looked for in the influence it neces- 
sarily has upon women. It is impossible to convey a clear idea 
of the absolute slavery of our sex under Mormon influence. 
It is not enough that all the recognized rights of an isolated 
domestic life, are invaded by a community of wives ; but all 
these women jointly, and severally, are to be the unquestion- 
ing instruments in the hands of their spiritual husbands, in 
carrying out the merciless designs of the Church, forced to 
this degrading work by the ever present fear of being de- 
nounced, and of imprisonment, and even death, in this world, 
and of being cut off from the Prophet's Paradise in the next. 
Innocent women, young and tender girls, and honest mothers, 
with all the instincts of their true womanhood upon them, are 
expected at the Prophet's, or the husband's bidding, to look 
crime in the face, without a shudder, and to prostitute all the 
sweet, and winning graces with which a Wise Hand has 
endowed them, as a means of exerting a softening and refin- 
ing Influence upon man's rougher nature, to carry out these 
designs of the Church against their Gentile victims. But 



Bowman's Fate. 265 

female humanity is unequal to the sacrifice while virtue, the 
real source of all womanly charms, wields her gentle scep- 
tre over the heart. 

This was well illustrated by the manner we were received 
by Martha and Kebecca. The latter, who was the first wife, 
and was recognized as entitled to take the lead in doing the 
honors of the house, received us ; handing us seats in the 
sitting-room, where we found Martha. 

I had by this time fully regained my self-possession, and 
Bowman, whose buoyant nature would not bear depression, 
appeared to good advantage; but the ladies, though evi- 
dently making an effort to act well their part, were depressed, 
and solemn as if assisting at a funeral : and indeed, they well 
knew they were preparing the way for one. 

Bowman, with a tact for which I had not before given him 
credit, divined, by aid of the key I had afforded him, as to 
myself, the true state of the case as to them, and said in a 
light and airy manner, yet with a caution that showed every 
word was well considered, " How is this, ladies ? you look 
as solemn as a Quaker Synod. Martha, has that ungracious 
husband been treating you unfairly,* by giving Rebecca the 
finest dress a^ain J" 

* The above reference to the scenes of bickering to which those 
households are always subject, where spiritual wifeism is practised, 
brings to mind a circumstance that occurred at Salt Lake City, about 
the time of which we are writing. 

The family of which I speak, lived in the Temple Block, with Mrs. 
Whitney, well known the,e. I do not recollect the name ; but tho 
man was from England as was al30 at least one of his wives. Ik 
12 



266 Fifteen Years amung the Mormons. 

This allusion to a dispute, which by the indiscretion of some- 
body had found its way to the public ear, but a short time 
before, rallied Martha into the mere shadow of a laugh, as 
she said, 

seems the first wife, who was married before she came to the valley, 
and who was much attached to her husband, objected to share her 
household honors and responsibility, with the new spiritual— forced 
upon her. The latter was not recognized, or tolerated in any respect 
by the first wife ; although she was the favorite of the husband. 
Things went on in this way, until one morning, the " spiritual " took 
the liberty of putting on a dress belonging to the first wife, without 
asking her permission. This exasperated the latter to such a degree, 
that the other parties, finding the house scarcely large enough to hold 
them all, attempted to discipline the refractory wife into submission. 
In order to justify what they were about to do, the unfeeling husband 
and the new wife, represented the lawful and previous occupant to 
the Heads of the Church, as being possessed with the devil. This put 
her beyond the pale of sympathy or protection. They then bound 
her to a narrow bench, where she lay upon her back, night and day y 
until the cords had cut through the flesh to the bone ; and she had un- 
jointed one shoulder in the struggle to break loose. She was in thia 
condition, when I saw her. Great numbers of the Church visited htr, 
and many believed she was really possessed of the devil. She was 
pointed out as a warning to refractory wives by the Church authori- 
ties. I noticed she acknowledged a look of friendly sympathy, al- 
though no one was allowed to speak to her. I went in with several 
others ; and while there, we saw the poor woman's child, something 
over two years old, come to its mother's side, and attempt to break 
the cords by which its mother was bound. The little thing was a 
girl, destined to grow up, and live over again perhaps, its mother's 
sad life, or to feel what its mother never could, submission. It was the 
most intensely cruel and touching spectacle I ever witnessed. The 



Bowman's Fate. 267 

" Oh no. That difficulty is all settled. He sees the folly 
of treating Rebecca better than he does me, and is becoming 
quite a good fellow." 

" By the way ," said Bowman, " where is this husband, John 
Norton, to-day ?" 

This was the second time this question had been asked by 
him, and evaded by the ladies; but now it was so direct that 
Rebecca replied, " he said he was going over Jordan, to look 
after the cattle." 

My readers will recollect that John Norton and Win. 
Kimbal were at that moment within full view and hearing of 
us ; separated from the sitting-room by a partition, so con- 
structed as to be conveniently used for that purpose. 

Nothing could reassure Rebecca and Martha, for thev 
grew every moment more and more solemn and constrained, 
and it was a positive relief to them, when, by a pre-arrange- 
rnent, Mrs. Burgess, one of the neighboring women, came to 
the door, and with a dissembled show of haste and alarm 
caid to them, 

u Come over at once ; one of my children has been burned 
terribly." 

" How," said both at once, and without waiting, for an ex- 
planation, the three women ran off together, leaving us alone, 

child rolled its wild eyes — fired with a precocious sense of wrong, the 
source of which it struggled to comprehend — first to its hapless mother 
and then to us, as if puzzled as much to know why the mother was 
confined there, as why we did not release her. Its pitiful moans and 
appeals for the help we could not give, were enoug i to break our 
hearts. 



268 Fifteen Years among the Mormcns. 

in the sitting-room. The design of this was, that I should be 
enabled to lead Bowman into some developments of his 
plans and feelings towards the Church, in hearing of the lis- 
teners of the next room. Then commenced a series of 
attacks upon my victim. I felt I could now afford to act my 
part well : more especially as I had given him what warning 
I could. I represented to him in my best manner, how much 
I wished to escape ; and that I should be pleased to do so by 
his assistance ; and that I was willing to submit to any con- 
ditions he might impose, and hinted further at other possi- 
bilities, in a manner not to be mistaken. As a part of my 
instructions were to ascertain if possible what amount of 
money he had, I told him, that in case he could not take me, 
that with a small sum of money, I should possibly be able to 
get away, in another manner, which I did not mention. To 
all this he listened in thoughtful silence ; and I was pleased to 
notice that I had not awakened his interest, until I referred 
to the money. I then asked him in order to draw out a 
reply of some kind, what he thought of the Mormons. 

" Why as for that," said he slowly, " I have no good reason 
to think very well of them. I think I know these Saints are 
making arrangements to take my life. I shall never be per- 
mitted to leave this place. I know the man who is to be 
charged with the duty of effecting my murder. My life is 
not worth a fig. But should I succeed in getting away, which 
is now impossible, I should be very glad to restore you to 
your husband : and then I would come to this accursed den 
of assassins, with such a company of true men, and such an 
array of arms, as would sweep this impious Prophet, and his 



Bowman's Fate. 269 

Danites,' from longer cursing this beautiful valley/' "While 
he said this he rose from his seat, and his eye flashed a proud 
defiance, and his whole frame swelled with a lofty enthu- 
siasm. 

" But," said he, resuming his seat after a moment's silence, 
and falling back into his quiet and thoughtful mood again, 
" you mentioned just now that money might be useful to you. 
If so, you can have all you wish ; as it will be useless to me. 
All the money in the world cannot save me, Mrs. Smith : and 
you may as well have it as any one." I then took the watch 
Mr. Smith gave me when he left for California, and handed it 
to him. This was a keepsake, and I did not wish to part 
with it ; but he looked at it, saying as he did so, " this is 
worth about one hundred dollars. I will give you two hun- 
dred for it." I knew he would have given me the money as 
soon without the watch, as with it: and that he had chosen 
to give the transaction a business form, from motives of deli- 
cacy to me. I appreciated his motives, but I parted with the 
watch with regret. But there was no remedy for it, and he 
took from his pocket a purse of gold, which I should say con- 
tained several thousand dollars, and counted me the amount, 
saying at the same time, I could have more if I wished. 
The fact was I dare not refuse the money or explain to him, 
why I preferred to keep the watch in the presence of the lis- 
teners. 

He then said, " Well, Mrs. Smith, I find I am nearer ready 
to leave this city, than I had expected ; and I may as well 
meet my fate at once. I have concluded to leave to-morrow 
morning. If I can once reach the open plaits, I can defy 



270 Fifteen Tears among the Mormons. 

them. The difficulty will be to escape beyond the canons and 
mountain passes leading from this city. I think I shall never 
pass them ; but we shall see. But it is time I had seen my 
men, that they may be ready for an early move in the morning." 

We then returned to my mother's who had tea ready, 
and when the meal was finished, Bowman went up town 
to put his affairs in readiness for the journey ; and we 
saw him no more that night. With his company he had 
three Indian slaves, purchased as he said in Mexico. 

That slavery exists not only among these Mexican and 
Indian traders, but also among the Mormons, and by autho- 
rity of the Prophet, is perhaps not generally known ; but it 
has been reduced to a regular system, in the territory, under 
their administration. Young Indian girls and boys, who are 
captives among the various tribes, are purchased, and trained 
as servants, and are now as much a recognized item of 
property there as the negro slaves of Louisiana or Kentucky. 

The next morning, our house was filled with our immediate 
neighbors, the acquaintances of Bowman, as it was generally 
known he was to leave the city at an early hour, and would 
bid his friends adieu, after he had taken his breakfast at our 
house. Notwithstanding great efforts had been made by the 
Heads of the Church, to create a prejudice against him, he 
yet had many true friends among us, though none dare to 
advocate his cause openly. 

When the time arrived for his departure, he came to the 
house accompanied by his party. I noticed among the rest, 
three very formidable looking Spaniards, who had in charge 
the pack animals. His packs were large and numerous, and 



Bowman's Fate. 271 

were said to contain valuable goods, and other property and 
money. 

His own dress and appearance on this occasion was very 
imposing. He wore a sort of over-shirt of brown broad cloth, 
of very fine fabric, with blue pantaloons, and leggings, fastened 
above the knee by bands of red velvet, richly ornamented with 
bead work, which he prized, as having been worked and pre- 
sented, rumor said, by the fair hands of a distinguished Mex- 
ican lady. His buckskin riding gloves, were laced from the 
wrist to the elbow with silken cords, and the Mexican hat, 
which completed his graceful, and somewhat ambitious cos- 
tume, was removed when he came in, with an air of good 
breeding, and consideration for his friends, and he chose to 
treat us all as such, that would have done honor to a gentle- 
man of any country or position in life. His whole costume, 
however, was arranged in good taste, and according to the 
customs of the country. As he moved among us, he was 
acknowledged by all to be a model of grace and manly 
beauty ; and more than one heart deplored his fate, from 
which every Mormon felt there was no reprieve. He wore a 
sad and even gloomy face at first, and was much astonished 
to find so large a company. Seeing many whom he recog- 
nized as his friends, he brightened up somewhat, as he said 
with a touch of sarcasm, 

" Where is Brigham ? He should be here to preach my 
funeral sermon." 

The rebuke was so well deserved, that we looked as guilty 
as we felt. He saw the effect of his speech ; and generously 
added : 



272 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

" My friends, I know who are the guilty ones among you 
and I have now to bid you a final adieu. I thank you for the 
honor of your presence here this morning. I wish it was in 
my power to serve you." 

When he had finished his breakfast, he turned to me and 
said : 

" Mrs. Smith, I trust I may ask you to accept this sash at 
my hands." 

He then put a beautiful sash over one of my shoulders, and 
around my waist, and tied it there. Then placing his hands 
one on each side of my face, he kissed me, saying : 

" Good-bye, Mrs. Smith ;" and then he kissed all the ladies 
present, in like manner, and bid them good-bye. John Nor- 
ton and the bishop of the ward were present, with many 
other men, and a large number of women. It was noticed that 
when he shook hands with the men, he did so with less cor- 
diality than when he kissed his adieus to the ladies. 

His party moved on at his order, and he left us, bearing 
with him the sorrowing sympathy of every woman present. 
I think nothing but the presence of the men restrained our 
tears. 

This was Sunday morning ; and after meeting, the Prophet 
came to John Norton's house, accompanied by General Wells. 
I saw them, and feeling an anxiety about the fate of Bowman 
that would not be appeased nor brook delay, I went there. 
I was still in mystery as to the particular manner in which 
he was to be disposed of. I knew my interview with him 
had not been attended with quite the result the Prophet had 
anticipated, and that ho had changed his policy with regard 



Bowman's Fate. 273 

to him since but in what way I knew not. It was this I 
wished to know. I concealed my interest in the matter as 
best I could, and was well and very kindly received by the 
Prophet, who complimented me upon the skillful manage- 
ment of my "mission," as he was pleased to call it. He 
placed his hands upon my head, and as the Prophet of God, 
conferred a blessing upon me, closing with these words : 
" You, Mary Ettie, shall yet be mighty in word and deed." 

The Prophet then turned the conversation upon the subject 
nearest my heart. Besides John Norton and family, there 
were several other persons present of note in the Church, 
both men and women. 

He said, addressing the company generally, " we must 
make some arrangements as to Bowman at once. We must 
adopt some plan by which to end his existence. It will never 
do to allow him to leave the territory : for if he is once at 
liberty again, he will set the Spaniards and Indians against 
us, if not half the world besides, and that will never do." 

General Wells then proposed that two men should be 
selected from the private police, for the purpose of carrying 
out the Prophet's "counsel." John Norton volunteered as 
one, and the General engaged to find another. With these 
few words, the matter was settled. Some other unimportant 
conversation passed, and the trial and condemnation of one 
of the noblest and bravest of men was accomplished. A 
young and innocent man, one incapable of the commission 
of a crime, was thus to be cut off, to gratify the craven 
bigotry of the Prophet. I had often seen Brigham Young in 
difficult positions before ; but I had never known his unwor 

12* 



274 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

thy fears get so much the better of his judgment. The 
"High Commission" separated, and I went home, sick and 
disheartened, to mourn for the doomed. A morbid curiosity 
prompted me to know all the details of the cruel measures 
taken for his destruction, and circumstances favored my 
wishes. 

My husband, before our marriage, had been employed by 
Major Holman, Indian Agent for the territory, to distribute 
the goods, consisting of beads, blankets, brooches, paints and 
the like, to some of the tribes ; and by accident, a package 
of the paints used by the Indians had been left at our house. 
This fact, unimportant in itself, was known to John Norton. 
Just at night, Norton came to our house with James Ferguson, 
and asked for some of this paint, and made no reserve in tell- 
ing us what they wished to do with it. The remainder of this 
story I learned from Norton and Ferguson themselves. This 
Ferguson had been selected to accompany Norton. They 
left the city on horseback, and that night, passed, after dark, 
the house where Bowman had put up. Knowing the route 
he must take from there, they went on to Salt Creek canon, 
where they disguised themselves as Indians, by painting their 
faces and putting on blankets and horse-hair wigs. It 
appears that Bowman had sent his main company on, while 
he remained behind, keeping but four horses and two Span- 
iards with him. He had purchased a wagon and harnessed 
two of his horses to it; one Spaniard was driving, and the 
other was riding one, and leading another Inrse behind the 
wa^on, and Bowman was riding inside of it. It was 
in this manner that Bowman entered the canon, the nex* 



Bowman's Fate. 275 

morning, nearly alone, probably with the hope of misleading 
the " Danites," whom he knew would be on hi* track. 

But Norton and Ferguson were in ambuui near the road, 
and as the wagon came on, they both rose from behind some 
rocks and bushes, and gave an Indian war-whoop, and fired a 
shot, which took effect in the hat of one of the Spaniards, 
whom they wished not to kill, but only to frighten. At this, 
both of these cowards fled with the loose horses, and made 
their way back to the city, leaving Bowman alone, who now 
rose in the wagon, and drawing himself up to his full height 
for a quick survey of the danger, from which he evidently 
felt there was no escape, looked undaunted upon his assail- 
ants. A moment of silence intervened, and the report of two 
rifle shots rang among the rocks of the canon, and he fell to the 
bottom of his wagon dead. Either wound was mortal ; one hit 
him full in the breast, and the other in the forehead. I after- 
wards heard both Norton and Ferguson relate the circum- 
stances of his death, and both agreed in the statement as 
above given. The Spaniards, upon their arrival at the city, 
went before a magistrate, at the suggestion of the Mormons, 
who affected great alarm, and made. oath that Bowman had 
been shot in Salt Creek canon by the Indians, one of them 
showing the ball hole through his hat, in confirmation of it ; 
and this statement was credited as well among many of the 
Mormons as among the Gentiles, and is so received to this 
day by the masses. 

A posse of the police were sent out to look for his body, 
and for the property, but returned, after a thorough search, 



276 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

without discovering either ; and thus the matter was hushed 
up with the public. No part of his property, which must 
have been valued at many thousands of dollars, was ever dis- 
covered,, as far as was generally known ; but the following 
will indicate its probable disposition. 

The flist or second night after Bowman's death, John Nor- 
ton and Ferguson brought his body to the city, in the wagon 
in which he had been killed, and drawn by his own horses. 
They took it to Norton's house. When the men had 
gone out, Rebecca came over and told me what had hap- 
pened, and I went home with her. We took a light, and 
went to the back room and saw the body. We had no diffi- 
culty in recognizing it. I clipped from his head a small lock 
of hair with my scissors. I afterwards gave this hair to Dr. 
Hurt, then or afterwards Indian Agent of the Territory ; and 
this, with a note from Brigham Young, received upon a for- 
mer occasion, and referring to another matter, were sent to 
Washington by Judge Kinney, as the Doctor informed me. 
I had afterwards, and at different times, repeated conversation 
with the actors in the tragedy of Bowman's imprisonment 
and death, from whom I have gathered what I did not 
know of my own knowledge. Norton and Ferguson both 
acknowledged, in my presence, that they killed Bowman 
in cold blood ; and, what will perhaps appear singular to my 
Gentile readers is, they did not consider it a crime. Hiram 
Clauson, who, it will b© recollected, assisted at the robbery, 
and probable murder of Dr. Roberts, told me that the body 
of Bowman was given to Drs. Andrews and Williams, well- 
known physicians ot the city, for dissection. 



Bowman's Fate 277 

I have thus sought to do justice to the memory of Wallace 
Alonzo Clark Bowman ; and as his murderers are still living, 
I can but hope they may yet meet the reward due their 
crimes. 



27S Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



MORMON JESUITISM. 



When all was over with poor Bowman, I felt the full pres- 
sure of my disagreeable position. Mormonism, now doubly 
hateful, was rendered the more terrible to my imagination by 
the fact that there was no reasonable hope of escape left me. 
I wrote to my husband not to return to Salt Lake, as if he 
did, he would very likely never go away alive. 

A little circumstance happened soon after this, which served 
to render my position still more uncertain and disagreeable. 

A stranger came to our house, with a letter purporting to 
be from my husband's mother, directed to him and myself, 
giving the information that a valuable property had fallen to 
the family in Scotland, and wishing him to accompany her to 
secure it. The letter had been taken from the post office at 
Salt Lake by the stranger, who represented himself as a 
brother of my husband. The whole affair looked so singular 
and suspicious, that I thought my safest course would be to 
lay the matter before the Prophet. I conceived this to be a 
plan of the Mormons to test my sincerity. 

The stranger afterwards called at our house, and professed 
to bo authorized by my husband to take me to California, in 



Mormon Jesuitism. 279 

order to accompany him to Scotland, for the purpose named 
in the letter. The Prophet pronounced it an attempt of my 
husband to get me from the Saints, and advised me not to go. 
This did not alter the opinion I had entertained from the first : 
that the Prophet knew all about it ; and that it would be at 
least safe to follow his " counsel " in this matter, however it 
might be when I was free to accept or reject it, if indeed such 
a time should ever come. I give this to illustrate the charac- 
ter of the Mormon leaders, and their line of policy. I soon 
after received a letter from my husband, saying he had given 
up the idea of getting me from Salt Lake. That he had made 
every possible effort in that direction, and had sent two men 
to bring me away, but that they had never been heard from 
since ; and that he was quite discouraged about succeeding, 
while Mormonism flourished there. As he made no mention 
of having sent his brother, I felt myself confirmed in the 
opinion I had entertained, as to who were at the bottom of 
that transaction. I was still teaching the ward school, and 
Brigham Young came to see me very often, and took unusual 
pains to encourage and keep me iri good spirits, as he believed 
I could yet be reconciled to the Church. I deemed it best to 
encourage his efforts in this direction ; and I was equally in- 
dustrious in my efforts to convince him I was becoming every 
day better satisfied ; and that even then I was, to a certain de- 
gree, contented and happy. Any other course would have been 
beyond question suicidal; and, as my readers will hereafter 
learn, it was by the patient pursuance of this policy, that I after- 
wards effected my escape ; not, however, until I had been the 
victim of repeated disappointments and hardships. 



280 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

1HE STORY OF WILLIAM MAC. 

On my way to school one morning I met William Mao 
It was this man that had been engaged by my husband tc 
take me to Bear River, where he was to meet us, which 
scheme, it will be recollected, was frustrated by the Prophet 
Mac had just returned from California with more goods, and 
his family, to remain during the winter. This was the first 1 
had known of his return, and I eagerly inquired what informa 
tion he had of my husband ; but he knew nothing of him. 

It was a few days after this, that I was in his store, to in 
quire for some small matter, which I had been unable to find 
at other places. It so happened that no one was in the store 
at the time, but his two clerks, who were both Gentiles. As 
I went out, thinking no Mormons were in hearing, he said to 
his clerks, " I think it a burning shame that Mrs. Smith cannot 
go to her husband. If she remains until I go in the spring, 
I will take her in spite of the whole Mormon crew. If she 
will risk herself with my wife, I will take her." I did not 
hear these words myself, but there was a Mormon within 
hearing who did. Bishop Browning, of Ogden City, stood 
at that moment just outside the door, and heard all he had 



The Story of William Mac. 281 

said. He knew me, and had heard of my marriage to Smith ; 
and of course appreciated how important it was the Prophet 
should also know of Mac's intentions. He therefore went im- 
mediately to Brigham's office, and reported what he had 
heard ; and I was sent for at once. When I arrived at the 
Prophet's office, he was alone, and sat absorbed in deep study. 
His face was overcast and even sad. It was not unusual to 
see him thus, when free from excitement. He is probably the 
most unhappy man alive. I have seen him join the dance 
with the utmost abandon ; and have heard him say after- 
wards that dancing served to drown for the moment, the crush- 
ing weight of care and responsibility under which he groaned. 
His government is too absolute to be easily administered, and 
it is believed by his most intimate associates, that the frequent 
exercise of his assumed prerogative of holding " the issues of 
life," which he practically does through the agency of his 
" Danites," weighs heavily upon his spirit, and not unfrequent- 
ly disturbs his conscience. 

He has been often heard to say that his life was not worth 
the possession ; and that if he consulted only his own feel- 
ings, he should quit the world at once.* 

* It cannot be supposed that the Mormon Prophet is the dupe of 
his own pretensions, and hence this starting back at the remembrance 
of his crimes, and at the recollection of the many, many victims, whose 
bones are strewn from Nauvoo to Salt Lake, and through every valley 
and canon, and over every plain of Utah, vindicates the divinity within 
us. It admonishes the wrong-doer, that although " hand join to hand," 
and notwithstanding " God is slow to aager," " the wicked shall not go 
unpunished." 



282 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

He rose as I went in, and giving me his own chair, he as 
Burned at once his usual smile and self-possession, and said, 
" Well, Nett, I have another tedious job for you." 

" What is it V f I asked. 

" This," said he. " I wish to send you upon a mission tc 
the Gentiles to get money for us." 

" How do you expect me to get money from the Gentiles ? 
Certainly you will not expect me to rob, or steal, nor commit 
that other sin, which you have always taught us was so 
wicked. 

" I do not wish," said he, " you should break any covenant 
you have made, and while you do not do that, you will be 
safe enough. But at present, this is what I wish : that you 
should go to Mr. William Mac, the merchant, and make such 
advances to him, as that he shall be induced to believe you 
are willing to become his mistress, i. e., to live with him with- 
out marriage. The Gentiles have but one wife, but they often 
have others, whom they support privately, to whom they are 
really more attached than to their lawful wives. Now, you 
have, perhaps, never understood that this is one reason why 
Mormons are allowed to have a plurality of wives, i. e., to 
avoid the sin of keeping mistresses. I wish you to do this 
without delay. You can succeed, I am certain, from what I 
have heard this morning. I have just learned he takes a 
great interest in you." He then related to me what he had 
heard from Bishop Browning, and all Mac had said. I ear- 
nestly begged the Prophet would excuse me for this once, 
and reminded him that I had never refused to obey his 
a counsel;" but asked that he would send some one else 



The Stosy of William Mac. 283 

That I Lad hoped to serve the Church in some other capacity, 
and did not feel able to acquit myself with credit in such a 
mission. 

Drawing his small frame up to its fullest height, he assumed 
towards me that air of severity, softened by a slight mar- 
gin of patronage which, in his hands, was so strong a 
weapon, when dealing with those who were entirely within 
his power. Upon occasion he could rise to something 
very near the sublime, if by chance no strong arm was near 
to frighten his divinity and high pretension back within the 
limits of good manners. He now looked every inch the 
Prophet and inspired Seer, as he said : 

41 1 wish you to proceed according to the best of your know- 
ledge That is all I require. I know whether you can do it 
or not, before I send for you. You trifle too much with my 
word. I am directed by the spirit of my God * when I act." 

I saw I had unwittingly aroused, to its fullest intensity, that 
strong will, which had never yet found its equal within the 
pale of the Church, and which forms a strong element of his 

* " I am directed by the spirit of my God." In these words the 
Prophet does not acknowledge the u One only true God " of the Bible; 
but he refers in the expression u my God" to the particular God in 
whose kingdom he expects to be in the next world, and to whom he is 
responsible in this. 

He teaches that there are many gods, each having a kingdom in 
the other world, in which each is absolute ; bit that over all these, 
the God of the Bible is the acknowledged Head ; and that he, Brig- 
ham Young, is to be a god there also ; and that the God of the Bible 
was once a man, now risen to the high estate of the central uid 
Ruling Godhead. 



284 Fifteen Years among the Moemc^ns. 

government, among those who acknowledge his authority as 
a Prophet. 

I hastily apologized, and made my escape from the inspired 
presence, with the, best grace possible, promising a cheerful 
obedience. 

After seriously canvassing my position, I concluded it was 
my duty to protect myself, and to obey the Prophet was my 
only way to do this. As far as Mac was concerned, if he was 
an honest man, he would not be misled by me. If he believed 
as he professed, that it was wrong for Mormons to have a 
plurality of wives, he certainly would not do what both Gen- 
tiles and Mormons professed to think a crime, and therefore 
he would be safe. For if he did not yield to temptation, 
the Prophet could find no pretext for extorting money from 
him. 

My readers will of course understand that I was expected 
to go only far enough to get him committed by some overt 
act or promise, which the Mormons could use as the founda- 
tion of charges against him, for which he would prefer to pay 
heavily, rather than be exposed. This was about the time 
the Prophet was building a very extensive dwelling for his 
wives, where he wished to gather those who were especially 
his favorites, under one roof: a sort of religious harem, to be 
fitted up with a costly magnificence, worthy of the residence 
of the Prophet, and the possessor of so many wives. To do 
this, he was availing himsel r of every possible resource foi 
raising money. 

I have been asked repeatedly, since my return to the States, 
how many wives the Prophet had ; and I have heard it stated 



The Story ex William Mac. 285 

here, that he had thirty. Now I suppose if the Prophet him- 
self were asked the question, he could not answer it, without 
first having an examination of the records, as well of mar- 
riages as of deaths, for they often die without his knowledge, 
as they are scattered over the territory, and often live in 
places remote from the city. I recollect hearing a story told 
of him, which illustrates this point. 

At one time, when on a tour of inspection at Little Salt 
Lake, he put up for the night with a family of Mormons, 
consisting of a woman and her daughter. In the morning, 
the mother asked the Prophet if he knew that young lady, 
referring to her daughter. He said he did not. The mother 
then informed him, that the young woman was his daughter ; 
and stated the time, at Nauvoo, when she had been " sealed " 
to him. Upon examining the records, it was found to be true. 

I heard, at another time, one of the High Priests, whose 
business it was to anoint the sick, say, that he had that 
morning anointed twenty of the Prophet's babies — all of 
whom had the measles. If Brigham Young has not a hun- 
dred wives, which he probably has not, it is because he never 
saw so many single women whom he wished to marry. Of 
course I need not state, that it very seldom happens that his 
wishes in this respect are disregarded ; and I think they never 
are, among the true believers; for why should they be, since 
his application is backed by that unanswerable argument: 
"thus saith the Lord," and that is the end of it. 

Going to my school-rocm, I sent the children to their 
homes, and set myself to work at once, to carry out the hated 
" counsel " of the tyrant, whom I dared not disobey. 



286 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

I fixed my plan of operations, by adopting such measures 
as should leave no doubt of my intentions, hoping this very 
boldness might put him on his guard, or at least, astonish 
him into decency. At first, I drew up a note addressed to 
him, in which I expressed my proposition, in terms not to be 
mistaken, and then dressing myself with care, went to his 
store. Mr. Mac was not in at the moment The clerks 
volunteered to show me anything I might wish, but I told 
them I preferred to see the proprietor ; as I was looking for an 
article used only in the High Priest's office, and that I would 
wait his return. This excited some curiosity with them, and 
gave rise to some speculation as to what it was ; in the midst 
of which, Mr. Mac came in. This was as I preferred it 
should be, for I wished to give the man some chance for his 
life, and not to use an unfair bait, but to tempt him in the 
presence of his clerks, and with their eyes upon him, and 
when he was free from excitement. If he fell into my snares 
under such circumstances, it would be but the result of hia 
own folly. 

Mr. Mac received me very kindly, and with the overacted 
politeness in vogue among shopkeepers of his class, wished 
me good morning; at the same time, asked what he could 
do for me. " Several things," said I. " First, I wish to look 
at this," going to a piece of carpet near by, and, at the same 
time, handing him the note in the presence of the clerks. 
After reading the note, without the least show of embarrass- 
ment, he turned to me, and said, as if nothing had happened 
out of the usual line of business : — 

" Yes, yes ; T think we haven't it now, but we can accom 



The Story of William Mac. 2S7 

modate you soon ;" as if referring to some imaginary article 
of trade, which, he happened not to have. 

11 Let me see," he said, referring to the note. u Does the 
lady expect me to keep this P 1 

" I believe she does," said I, and then took ray leave, sorry 
to find him so approachable, saying as I went out, " you will 
please to let me know when you can fill the order," as if still 
referring to the imaginary article, supposed to have been 
mentioned in the note. I was the more pained with the re- 
sult of this interview, from the fact, that one of the strong 
arguments the few of us who rejected the spiritual wife doc- 
trine were in the habit of urging was, that the Gentiles who 
believed in Christianity, rejected it, as not being a practice 
authorized by the Bible. Against this view, the Prophet 
urged that it was only a pretence with them. 

"True," he would say, "the Gentiles have openly but one 
wife; but they have in secret as many as they can sup- 
port." 

And here was a Gentile who, by his practice, had confirmed 
the Prophet's reasoning. 

I went with a heavy heart, immediately to report the pro- 
gress I had made. 

Brigham was well pleased, and encouraged me to go on ; 
" but," said he, " after this you had better not come to my 
office. I will send some one to assist and instruct you, aa 
occasion may require. 

" I have been publicly preaching of late, to our women, 
against associating, in any way, with the Gentiles; and if, 
Mac should notice vou came here, he would be likelv \o 



288 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

think you visited him with my consent, and hence, would sus- 
pect you of bad faith." 

Up to this time, it had never occurred to me, that if I 
should go to my brother Howard, now my only brother living, 
possibly he could protect me against the necessity of submit- 
ting to the Prophet's "counsel," in the execution of these 
" missions " He was a High Priest, and was much about the 
person of the Prophet, having been one of his secretaries 
from the first, and he was said to have influence with him. 
On my way home, I went to Howard's house, and told him 
what had happened, and asked him to assist me. I believe 
him to be an honest man, and that he would in no case, or 
for no earthly consideration, commit a crime ; but the clairns 
of the Church and the word of the Prophet, are to him a law 
above all question or cavil. He listened to me with patience, 
and said when I had finished : 

" Mary Ettie, I am sorry you are capable of filling missions 
of that kind : but it is an evidence of the Prophet's divine 
commission, that he has discovered this talent in you ; and 
the whole Church recognize you as fitted for the work ; and 
many think it is a special grace sealed upon your head. It 
will be utterly impossible to escape your mission, or to ques- 
tion the Prophet's counsel — you must go on." 

I went home sick and disheartened, for I saw there was no 
escape from this degrading service. I had been at home 
but a few minutes, when John Norton came to the door, and 
said, as if be understood the embarrassment of my position, 
" Nett, I tell you to do as you have been counselled ; there ie 
no other way for you." 



The Story of "William Mac. 289 

I knew he had been sent by the Prophet, who had probably 
been informed of what I had just said to Howard. I made him 
no direct reply, but went to bed early, to seek forge tfulness^ 
for the time in sleep. 

The next morning, I awoke refreshed and calm. I wished 
to make one more appeal to Brigham Young, and I went to 
his house, and had the good fortune to find him there with 
Orson Hyde. As I went in he met me at the door, with his 
best smile, saying, as he patted my cheek playfully, 

" Well, Nett, you think you have a hard time of it, do 
you!" 

" I do not understand," said I, " why you have selected me 
for this kind of work, always ending as it does, if not in mur- 
der, at least in something as wicked." 

" Because," said he, "I know you have the faculty of gain- 
ing the friendship of those with whom you come in contact, 
and you must do something for the Church. If you will not 
marry any of us, you must help ' milk the Gentiles.' I do 
wish you could ever realize how we have been driven from 
one State to another by these Gentiles, until we have finally 
reached this stronghold among the mountains; and they 
would now push us on, and into the Pacific, if they could. Bui 
the powers of Hell cannot disturb us here. They are now in- 
venting every possible plan to get away our most intelligent 
women, while I am telling them plainly every Sunday from 
the pulpit, they are not wanted among us." 

" I understand you, brother Brigham, as to that," said I ; 
" but why are not others, as well as myself, sent to milk the 
Gentiles, as you terra it? I am fearful my husband will 

13 



290 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

not approve of my conduct, if I should go on with this mat 
ter." 

" Perhaps," said the Prophet, " if your were called upon to 
do as some females in the Church have done, you would 
renounce Mormonism outright. You do not know what 
everybody may be doing, any more than everybody knows 
what you are doing. When people first come into the 
Church, they must be fed upon the thinnest milk ; but you 
should now be able to eat strong meat." 

I felt a strong inclination to laugh, which he noticed, and 
checked me, by saying : 

" You always trifle with serious matters." 

" Do you think it a trifling matter," said I, " to lead a man 
off, and take his money, and perhaps his life ?" 

He looked at me seriously for a moment, as if smitten by 
the inquiry, and said at length, almost despairingly : 

" I have a terrible headache." 

But without sparing him, I said, " Smith will never tolerate 
such work." 

" Never mention him," said he. " It is a sin to think of him.'- 

" But if he comes l^ack, and confesses his sins," I replied,. 
" 3 t ou are bound to forgive him — are you not ?" 

" He never will," said the Prophet, earnestly. " If he does, 
he shall never have you; but my head aches, and I must 
leave you to accomplish your appointed work." 

" I will not disturb you further," said I ; " and if I had the 
power of healing, I would relieve you. But Saints never 
have the power of healing and prophesy at the same time — 
do they, Brother Brigham ?" 



The Story of "William Mac. 291 

"No, no," said he, with a show of impatience unusual to him ; 
and as I stood in the door to take my leave, his face wore an- 
expression of distrust/ I thought he doubted whether, in my 
simple question, I had not intended to read him a lesson upon 
the text "Physician heal thyself;" but I did not delay to ap- 
prise him of his mistake. 

I went immediately to Mac's store to commence operations, 
for I wished to have done with it. I told him I wished to 
trade some ; but that I had no money. He said that would 
make no difference. That I could have anything I wished. 
I told him I could not accept of anything in that way — pur- 
posely giving his words a broader meaning than he had in- 
tended. But nothing appeared to astonish the fellow, and 
after a moment's reflection, he said, with a wonderfully know- 
ing expression of face, " Mrs. Smith, I would like to see you 
alone, if you will give me an opportunity." 

With an eagerness I had not before manifested, I replied, 
" Very well. Nothing could be more agreeable to me, for I 
must acknowledge I have been much troubled on your account 
of late." In what way the reader can judge. 

" When may I expect to find you at home?" he asked. 

" Come down this afternoon," said I, earnestly. I then 
went home, revolving in my mind whether there was not 
some possible means by which I could save this foolish man 
Dare I trust him so much as to drop a hint of the part I was 
playing, and why ? I feared not, and yet I was half resolved 
to attempt it. But I soon found that would be impos- 
sible ; for I had been at home but a few minutes, when 
Capt. Hardy, who was chief of the city police, and John 



292 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Norton came to inquire what had been my success. I told 
them how things had been arranged. They said the mission 
had been put into our hands by Brigham, " who has directed 
us," said Hardy, " to recognize you as captain, and to render 
vou such assistance as you may wish." 

" I think I do not need any assistance. I can do all that is 
necessary to be done alone," said I. 

" Oh, no, madam, we must help you. We are coming to 
hear what he has to say." 

They then directed me to arrange a bedroom, that opened 
into the parlor, for them, and they would return before Mac 
came, to assist me, as they termed it. The real object being 
to keep me under espionage. There was now no escape, as 
I was under the eye of the police, and I^felt I could do no 
more to protect the victim. To attempt it would be to trifle 
with my own existence. 



Milking a Gentile. 293 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



MILKING A GENTILE. 



The chief of the police returned in a few minutes, accora 
panied by John Norton, and both secreted themselves within 
the bedroom ; and very soon after this Mac came, finding me, 
as he supposed, alone. I w 7 as engaged in doubling some 
yarn, and he took the swifts and set them away, saying, as he 
did so, M Mrs. Smith, you can afford to live without work, if 
you are willing to grant what I expect of you. You were 
never intended to live with these Mormons. If you will go 
with me, I will enable you to live in a society you are so well 
qualified to grace. Do you wish to go to California ?" 

" I certainly do," said I. 

" Let us understand each other," said Mac. " Would you 
be willing to go with me wherever I go V* 

u Nothing could suit me better. I will go anywhere with 
you ;" and I could have added, " with any one else, if I could 
but get away from Utah." 

" You cannot well imagine," said Mac, " my astonishment 
when you handed me that note the other day. I have often 
thought before that I should be willing to give any amount 
of money if you could accidentally fal 1 . into my hands in this 



294 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

way ; but I did not expect one like you could be induced tc 
look favorably upon such a man as I am, and I am even now at 
a loss to account for it." 

Apprehensive that his inability to "account for it" would 
lead him to make some awkward inquiries, I called his atten- 
tion from that point by mentioning his wife. 

" On her account I cannot marry you" said he ; " but I 
have as good a right to live with you, I suppose, as Brigham 
Young has to live with any of his wives." 
" I think you have," said I u quite as good." 
The idea that a Gentile should seek to justify a violation 
of his own faith by quoting our " Prophet," seemed to me 
very strange. 

Emboldened by an apparent success, and by a seeming will- 
ingness on my part to meet his advances halfway, he attempt- 
ed a nearer approach to my person ; but thrown for the mo- 
ment off my guard, I met the movement with a shudder of 
disgust and aversion so undisguised that he paused disconcert- 
ed by it, and said, " Why, Mrs. Smith, what is the matter ? 
you act strangely. You are really shivering, too !" 

Seeing the necessity of reassuring him, I laughed, and said : 
" Oh, that is nothing but one of my whims. Be seated, and 
let us talk over matters ;" and handing him a chair, I contin- 
ued : " How would it be if I should ask for some money ! 
Are you liberal ?" 

" Not very," said he ; " but I do not forget my friends." 
Affecting great satisfaction with him on this account, I gave 
expression to a willingness to be his, as soon as it was con- 
venient ; but that he must be aware how liable we were to be 



Milking a Gentile. 295 

discovered, and that such conduct in a Mormon woman was 
deemed in our Church a very high crime, punishable with 
death. 

He was aware of that, and expressed himself willing to 
abide his time. He was particularly happy in his commenda- 
tion of my prudence, and hoped I would manage the thing 
discreetly. 

I then told him he had better leave me for the present, 
and that the next evening we would take a walk to some 
quiet and unfrequented part of the town, where we could 
have a moment by ourselves undisturbed. 

With this he was satisfied, and he took a very affectionate 
leave of me, contenting himself, however, with the simple 
demonstration of kissing my hand. 

"When once rid of him I found relief in tears. How was it 
possible for human nature to endure such tortures ? Captain 
Hardy and John Norton came from their hiding-place, and 
essayed to cheer and comfort me. Their compliments were 
so extravagant and ludicrous, that it was soon difficult to 
determine whether I was suffering most from my excess of 
contempt or tears. The captain said I was a model coquette, 
and the Prophet should know how well I had performed my 
mission, and many other things too disgusting to admit of 
tears ; and I dried them up. 

" That is a good arrangement," said John Norton ; " and 
you must meet him to-morrow evening as you have engaged. 
But where had she better take him, Captain Hardy ?" 

"I have been thinking of that," said the Captain. %< I 
think the south side of the adobe* yard, by the slough, is the 



296 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

place for them. We will be near to protect you, Nett. That 
is a lonely place, but you may have no fears. Go on, and we 
will always keep you in sight." 

My gallant assistants then withdrew, and I was once more 
left to myself. I thought the matter over, and came to the 
conclusion that this man Mac was undeserving of sympathy ; 
and as they probably aimed to take only his property, I 
would go through with my part cheerfully. 

Just before dark the next evening, I left home, prepared 
for the enterprise. The clear calm twilight, always enchant- 
ing in Utah, was fast closing in ; and the moon soon after rose 
with unusual splendor above the rugged mountains, back of 
the city, revealing the silver crowns of their snow-capped 
lummits, far to the north and west. I had seldom seen a 
nore lovely night, and never before found the pure air more 
Jelicious. It seemed desecration to taint such an atmosphere 
with works fitting only for demons. I walked leisurely down 
rhe street on which Mac lived, and passed his house. He 
was sitting with his wife by the door. I had proceeded but a 
short distance, when he overtook me, and said, as he came 
up: 

" Mrs. Smith, you are faithful in the performance of your 
engagements" 

"I fear I have been but too faithful," said I. But not to 
him, as my readers by this time understand. 

" What a lovely evening," said he. " Such a night is 
favorable for us. Shall we go down by the trees, and find a 
seat among their shadows, where we can hold a whispered 
interview unnoticed ?" 



Milking a Gentile. 297 

" No," said I ; "we shall be less exposed by the adobe* 
yard. Let us go there, if you are willing." 

" Anywhere you say," said he. " And I must say this ia 
the happiest moment of my life." He took my arm, and 
observing that I trembled, he said : " Mrs. Smith, how is 
this? you are crying, as I live, if this moonlight does not 
deceive me. There is some mystery about this." 

Forcing myself into self-possession with a success I hardly 
hoped to achieve, I said, smiling through my tears : " Mr. 
Mac, is it possible you understand so little a woman's heart ? 
Did you suppose I could forget my husband so readily, even 
without a tear or a regret ? It was along this very street we 
walked, the night before he left me." 

This effort at coquetry had the effect I wished ; for while it 
silenced his suspicions for the moment, it gave me a shelter 
behind which to retreat in case of emergency. 

" Yes," said he, " I think I can understand you ;" as if 
relieved from an unpleasant fear — that his hold upon me was 
uncertain. " I can appreciate your feelings, and it does you 
credit ; although I had flattered myself that I should be able 
to supply his place, at least in some degree ; and in the end 
to supplant him, not only in possession, but in that more 
tender relation of the heart, and I hope I am not deceived. 
Am I ? If so, tell me, and I will try to bear in silence the 
most cruel disappointment of my life." 

The pathos of his words, and the earnest concern they 
evinced, excited my pity for a moment ; for I reflected that 
perhaps the accursed practices of our Church had had the 
effect to weaken the bonds of good faith as well among the 

IB* 



298 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Gentiles as among us. It was perhaps but another form of 
the bitter fruits of our errors, destined, may be, to corrupt the 
world. 

I had seen as yet nothing of the police, and was growing 
more and more nervous every moment about being left 
alone, when I saw two men not far from us, one of whom I 
recognized as Captain Hardy. I therefore felt at ease, and 
replied now without restraint. 

" Mr. Mac, I am very much flattered by your professions 
»f attachment, and I accept them as being made in sinceritv ; 
uid judging from my own heart, I think you would not wish 
me to take any step that could have a tendency to injure 
me." 

He was not quite prepared for this, and made no reply at 
first, but at length said : " Let us go down by the adobe 
yard, the place for which we started, and talk it over." 

I now had the cards somewhat in my own hands, for the 
police were near enough to protect me, in case I needed 
them; while they dare not come so near as to be within 
hearing of us. I therefore refused to go further, and we dis- 
cussed the question for a long time. While he urged, I 
refused. The police very naturally supposed, in the mean- 
time, the reverse was true, and that Mac was the faltering 
one. We at length started towards home, slowly, all the 
while disputing the point. I took care on my part to leave 
the impression, with those who could only see us, that I went 
unwillingly. Ap we passed a schoolhouse Mac saw the 
policemen, as I supposed for the first time ; but it seemed 
otherwise, for he said : 



Milking a Gentile. 299 

" Who are those men ? I have seen them several times 
since we have been walking." 

" One of them is a policeman, I think," said I. 

" What can they be doing here ?" said he. " They are 
never on guard in this quarter of the town until after mid- 
night. Mrs. Smith, I half suspect they are watching us." 

Wishing to alarm, if possible, without explaining to him 
my true position, I replied : " Oh dear, such a life will kill 
me. I am going home." 

M Hold one moment, Mrs. Smith," said he, as if startled by 
a new idea. " Have you been playing a part to-night ? Tell 
me now ; is it not true that you have been acting under the 
instructions of these Mormon devils, to lead me into some 
trap ? I have heard of such things among these Saints before ; 
but I could hardly believe it of you women — and yet why 
not ; for I know enough of Mormonism to comprehend that 
the women dare not disobey ' counsel.' Come, tell me how 
it is, that I may prepare for the worst. I shall not blame 
you. I know there is something wrong, for you have had an 
oppeitunity of doing as I expected you, and yet you fairly 
shrink from my touch. How is it ? Are these policemen 
sent to assist you ?" 

I looked upon the poor man now with positive pity — for 
he was greatly alarmed ; and yet I dare not answer his 
questions fully for I doubted his discretion. Still deter 
mined not to lull his suspicions, I said, with a significance of 
tone which should have been clearer to him than an open 
avowal : " Mr. Mac, all is right. But if it were not, what 
then ? You know I dare not tell you, even if it were wrong. 



300 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

But I must go. Good-night !* I left him thus abruptly, 
hoping his good sense, if he had any, would come to his 
rescue. I went home quickly enough, attended at a safe 
distance by my police guard. 

The next day Captain Hardy and his assistant came to the 
house, much elated, and rallied me greatly upon what thej 
called my failure to get Mac down to the adobe yard. 

"How did it happen, Nett?" said the Chief of Police, 
in high glee. " Why would he not go on ? I fear you are 
losing your skill as a coquette. Perhaps the frogs of the 
slough croaked too loud for his nerves. How vexed and dis- 
appointed we were when we saw you turn back. But it has 
turned out for the best, and shows the hand of the Lord was 
in it ; for this morning Mac has sold out his whole property, 
and is to receive the amount in cash on Monday. What 
could have given him such a fright ? But no matter. The 
Prophet wishes you to get him out again, immediately after 
he receives the money, before he goes home, and take him 
near Mr. Judd's, by Simpson's shed, we will have a seat 
arranged for you. He will not object going there. Tell him 
as an evidence of your sincerity, that you will grant any 
request he may make, if he will meet you at your own gate 
at seven o'clock on Monday evening. That is about the time 
he is to receive the money. He will not be likely to go 
home until after seeing you ; and he will have the dimes with 
him— but not long, for we will try to relieve him of them." 

I was sorely disappointed at the new form the affair had 
assumed. It seemed, these Mormons with their spies that 
never sleep, were always ready to turn everything to iheii 



Milking a Gentile. 301 

own advantage. I had hoped the business was ended. This 
new demand upon my endurance sickened and discouraged 
me. I made the Captain no reply ; but looked at him in 
silence. Thinking he had gone too far, he hastily apologized, 
begging to know how he had offended me. 

" In no way except by your presence, sir. Am I no longer 
to have even time for sleep ? Say to the Prophet that I obey ; 
but I trust you will leave me for the present, as I have need 
of rest." 

" You shall not be disturbed ; you shall have everything 
your own way, Nett. Good day." 

Sick and disheartened, I went to bed, and fell into a sound, 
though not untroubled sleep ; for my victim, half rescued and 
yet half within the meshes of the entanglements which sur- 
rounded him, disturbed my dreams. I have had occasion 
more than once to thank Heaven for the sweet influences of 
sleep. I awoke towards night, and at once applied myself to 
the accomplishment of my ungracious task. 

Going to Mac's store, I found him alone ; I said, " Mr. Mac, 
after thinking over our interview of last night, I have conclu- 
ded, that if you will call on Monday — say at seven o'clock — I 
will take you where it will be convenient for us to be by our- 
selves." I assured him further, of my entire good faith, and 
made myself agreeable. I was prepared for being repulsed, 
as I supposed he would hardly fall into the snare a second 
time ; but instead of showing he had learned wisdom from the 
past, he received my proposition gladly. After a moment's 
reflection, he said he could not come a* that time, as business 
of importance w r ould detain him. 



302 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

" Any other time you can name," said he, " I will be with 
you." 

"Any other time will not do," said I. " This is the last pro 
position I have to make." 

" Very well, Mrs. Smith, I will meet you then at seven 
o'clock. You shall have it as you wish." 

This w r as Saturday : and on Monday, at the appointed time, 
Mr. Mac called at our gate and found me, with bonnet in 
hand, ready to go. w I suppose you intend to take me to the 
adobe yard this time," said he, as we moved down the street. 

" No, we will go down past Mr. Judd's, and find a seat by 
the vine-covered shed near his house." 

" Very well, I shall follow, and be content ;" said he, watch- 
ing me, however, very closely, as if something in my appear- 
ance troubled him. He finally said, with some impatience — 

" I think you are an enigma. What can be the matter 
now ? At one moment you seem very fond of me, and the 
next, one would think, I was the object of your special hate. 
The more I do to please you, the farther I am from it. You 
are unlike most women. Am I so very disagreeable after all, 
that you cannot endure me ?" 

" Oh, the truth is, Mr. Mac, my whole life thus far has 
been but a quick succession of vexatious ill luck, and I am 
fast becoming a confirmed misanthrope. I owe you an 
apology. But here we are. Let us occupy this seat. Have 
I not been happy in my choice of a rendezvous? you must 
give me some credit for this." 

" I will give you credit for anything you ask, if you will 
put off that long face ;" he said in a mere cheerful tone. 



Milking a Gentile. 3C3 

The seat we now occupied had been prepared for the 
occasion by the police. The shed at our backs was owned 
in common by Mr. Judd and Mr. Simpson, and was near the 
house of the former. It was inclosed, and more or less 
covered with vines on the side next to us : and one part of it 
was occupied as a hen-house. Captain Hardy, with his 
police force, had thoughtlessly taken possession of the inside, 
without notifying Mr. Judd of the fact : which act of indis- 
cretion he soon had reason to regret. As for us, we fell into 
a very interesting conversation at once. Mr. Mac, pleased 
and embarrassed by the novelty of his position, and elated 
with the prospect of success, exceeded himself in a laudable 
effort to please. 

We had been thus engaged for some time, when an un- 
locked for event, disturbed our interview. The police were so 
near, being separated from us only by thin boards, between 
which were spaces, more or less wide, that I was entirely un- 
concerned as to my own personal safety ; and I did Mr. Mac 
the honor of making myself an excellent listener, joining in 
the conversation only when I found it necessary in order to 
draw him out upon some point, on which I knew by previous 
instructions, the Chief of Police wished his opinion, or when 
growing too confidential and subdued, or personal in his re- 
marks, it became me to open to him a new field of thought 
by a suggestion or a query, and thus to hold him in check. 
Upon the whole, he was an exceedingly happy man, and I 
should have pitied him, in view of the disappointment by 
which I foresaw he must soon be overtaken, had he not de- 
served my contempt. But it came in a manner more ludi- 



304: Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

crons than I had expected, and I found myself as much 
astonished by it as I had expected him to be. 

It appeared the Chief of Police and his assistant had bcth 
allowed their dogs to follow, and it had not occurred to 
them, how much inconvenience this oversight might occasion, 
until all the parties of the drama had taken their places, and 
it was then too late to correct the mistake. But, in order 
to make the best of the matter, each secured and held his 
own cur, listening at the same time to the conversation in 
progress between Mac and myself. While thus engaged, one 
of the dogs, by some sudden impulse, effected an escape from 
the hand of its master, and in the effort to regain possession 
of it, a support on which several broods of chickens were 
quietly at roost, was thrown down, bringing with it a score 
of frightened birds. 

In a moment all was confusion. The squalling of the 
chickens, and the wild clarion notes of alarm sounded by the 
cocks, joined with the unearthly yelps and barking of the 
dogs, raised a din and clamor which for the moment carried 
everything before it. The abrupt and unexpected nearness 
of the uproar rendered its first advent terrific. And over all, 
soon rose the sputtering yells of Mr. Judd to his wife, to 
bring the rifle which he said was loaded, and he would shoot 
the thieves. I started at once at full speed in the direction of 
the city, fast followed by Mr. Mac, who was too much fright- 
ened to think or act for himself. In passing the house, I saw 
the aged pair in their night clothes, bounding from place tc 
place, more hopelessly alarmed than any one else, except Mr. 
Mac and the hens, for these were the only parties not .n the 



Milking a Gentile. 305 

6ecret. "When at a safe distance up the street, I paused to 
look back to see the policemen, plunging from the hen-roost 
amidst the unabated cackling of hens and the yelping of 
dogs, and making good use of their heels down a by-street, 
the gallant chief losing his hat in the scramble. The whole 
posse was hotly pursued by Mr. Judd, shouting loudly : 
" Hold, you roost robbers ; it is the Mormon law to shoot 
thieves; and I will fire. Quick, woman, with the rifle ;" but 
every moment putting a greater distance between himself and 
his weapon. The female head of the house the while, some 
two rods behind in. hot pursuit of him, with rifle in hand, 
screaming at the top of her cracked voice : " Here, man, 
take the gun. Do take it." 

Before Mr. Mac had time to recover from his astonishment 
sufficiently to ask an explanation, I effected a safe retreat 
from the scene of action and reached home alone, greatly 
amused at the comical termination of the affair. But this 
was not the end of the matter with Mr. Mac ; for the next 
day the police, after letting Mr. Judd into the secret, had Mac 
privately arrested, and confronted him with the witnesses to 
our conversation ; and the unlawful proposals he had made to 
me, threatening an exposure, not only to his wife, but to the 
world, and he paid roundly to avoid it. When this was done, 
Mr. Judd threatened to have him arrested for robbing his 
hen-roost ; and then the " Gentile " was " milked " again, and 
so on, until every pretext was exhausted. He afterwards said 
to a Gentile friend that he had paid about cne thousand dol- 
lars for this indiscretion. Captain Hardy and Robert Bur- 
ton, when all w T as over, came to our house and told me, how 



306 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

they had succeeded in " milking " him, and they were highly 
gratified with their success. 

A few days after this, the Prophet sent for me to come to 
the house of Hiram Clauson, where he came, as he said, to 
compliment me upon my success in " milking the Gentile 
Mac." When I went in, he received me very cordially, say- 
ing : " Nett, brother Hiram was saying as you came in, that 
you deserve to have your name written in the chronicles and 
archives of your brethren, and your acts and miracles also, 
and so it shall be done. You have been a faithful servant." 

It was to extort this expression from' the Prophet, and to 
lull his suspicions and to gain his confidence, in order that he 
would trust me beyond the* limits of the city, that I might 
thus sooner or later find the means of making my escape, 
that I had submitted to obey his " counsel," and had assisted 
him in the perpetration of crime. I therefore said to him : 

il Brother Brigham, I am very glad if my conduct has 
met your approval ; and I shall improve this opportunity to 
ask a favor of you. I wish to spend the winter in Tooille 
Valley, with my brother Howard." 

" Certainly," said the Prophet, graciously ; " you shall go, 
and I hope you may enjoy yourself immensely." 

My brother had lately moved his family to that settlement, 
where he had a farm ; and I soon joined him, by permission 
obtained as above mentioned, to spend the winter, hoping that 
something would turn up in the meantime by which I could 
effect my escape. But before I proceed to give my adventures 
while there, I will pause in my own personal narrative, in 
order to give in the next chapter a few facts in the history of 



4 
Milking a Gentile. 807 

other persons, with which I was not immediately connected, 
yet w T hich fell under my notice, having a tendency to illus- 
trate the influence and general working of Mormonism under 
the government of Brigham Young 



SOS Fifteen Tears ^mong- thh Mormons. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



PUNISHMENT OF HERESY. 



The following episode in Mormon life I give, not because 
it has any peculiar interest over many others which I have 
neglected to narrate, but because it illustrates the idea indi- 
cated by the heading of this chapter, and for the further 
reason, that the facts are well authenticated. 

About the time referred to in the last chapter, j'osse T. 
Hartly came to Great Salt Lake City. He was a man of 
education and intelligence, and a lawyer by profession. I 
never knew where he was from, buf he was a Gentile when 
he came, and soon after married a Mormon girl by the name 
of Bullock, which involved a profession, at least, of Mormon- 
ism. It was afterwards supposed by some that his aim was 
to learn the mysteries of the Church, in order to make an 
expose of them afterwards. At all events, the eye of the 
Prophet was upon him from the first, and he was not long in 
discovering, through his spies, good grounds for suspicion. 
Hartly was a fine speaker and a man calculated to make 
friends, and he was named by some one, unacquainted with 
the fact, that the Prophet regarded him with suspicion, as a 
fit person to be appointed missionary preacher among the 



Punishment of Hekesy. 309 

Gentiles. As is customary in such cases, he was proposed in 
open convention, when all the Heads of the Church were on the 
stand ; and the Prophet rose at once with that air of judicial 
authority, from which those who know him best understand 
there is to be no appeal, and said : " This man, Hartly, is 
guilty of heresy. He has been writing to his friends in Ore- 
gon against the Church, and has attempted to expose us to the 
world, and he should be sent to hell cross lots." This was 
the end of the matter as to Hartly. 

His friends after this avoided him, and it was understood 
that his fate was sealed. He knew that to remain was death ; 
he therefore left his wife and child, and attempted to effect 
an escape. 

Not many days after he had gone, Wiley Norton told us, 
with a feeling of exultation, that they had made sure of 
another enemy of the Church. That the bones of Jesse Hartly 
were in the canons, and that he was afraid they would be 
overlooked at the Resurrection, unless he had better success 
in " pleading" in the next world than in this, referring to his 
practice as a lawyer. 

Nearly a year and a half after this, when on my way to 
the States, I saw the widow of Jesse Hartly at Green River. 
She had been a very pretty woman, and was at that time.but 
twenty-two years old. I think she was the most heart-broken 
human beins: I have ever seen. She was living with her 
brother, who kept the ferry there, and he was also a Mormon. 
We were waiting to be taken over, when I saw a woman, 
with a pale, sad face, dressed in the deepest black, sitting 
upon the bank, alone. The unrelieved picture of woe which 



310 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

she presented, excited our curiosity and sympathy. Accom- 
panied by my sister, I went to her, and after some delay and 
the assurance, that although we were Mormons, we were 
yet women, she told us her brief story, without a tear ; yet 
with an expression of hopeless sorrow which I shall never 
forget. Oh ! Mormonism is too hard — too cruel upon women. 
Can it — will it be permitted for ever ? 

It was not until I had suggested to her, that perhaps I had 
also a woe to unburden, as the result of my Mormon life, 
which might have some comparison to her own, that she 
commenced by saying : 

"You may have suffered ; and if you have been a Mormon 
wife, you must have known sorrow. But the cruelty of my 
own fate, I am sure, is without a parallel — even in this land 
of cruelty." 

" I married Jesse Hartly, knowing he was a ' Gentile ' in 
fact, but he passed for a Mormon, but that made no difference 
with me, although I was a Mormon, because he was a noble 
man, and sought only the right. By being my husband, 
he was brought into closer contact with the members of 
the Church, and was thus soon enabled to learn many 
things about us, and about the Heads of the Church, that 
he did not approve, and of which I was ignorant, although 
I had been brought up among the Saints ; and which, if 
known among the Gentiles, would have greatly damaged us. 
I do not understand all he discovered, or all he did ; but 
they found he had written against the Church, and he 
was cut off, and the Prophet required as an atonement for 
his sins, that he should lay down his life. That he should be 



Punishment of Heresy. 81 J 

sacrificed in the endowment rooms ; where human sacrifices 
are sometimes made in this way. This I never knew until 
my husband told me, but it is true. They kill those there 
who have committed sins too great to be atoned for in any 
other way. The Prophet says, if they submit to this he can 
save them ; otherwise they are lost. Oh ! that is horrible. 
But my husband refused to be sacrificed, and so set out alone 
for the United States : thinking there might be at least a 
hope of success. I told him when he left me, and left his 
child, that he would be killed, and so he was. William 
Hickman and another Danite, shot him in the canons ; and 
I have often since been obliged to cook for this man, when 
he passed this way, knowing all the while, he had killed my 
husband. My child soon followed after its father, and I hope 
to die also ; for why should I live ? They have brought me 
here, where I wish to remain, rather than to return to Salt 
Lake, where the murderers of my husband curse the earth, 
and roll in affluence unpunished." 

She had finished her sad story, and we were choking down 
our sobs of pity in silence, when she noticed her brother, of 
whom she appeared to stand in awe, coming toward us, and 
she rose saying, " I trust you will excuse me," and then went 
her way, still wearing the same stony expression of agony, 
and as unrelieved by tears as when we first saw her. But 
this is but one case among a thousand others, that have never 
seen the light, and never will, until the dark history of the 
"Daiiites," or the " Destroying Angels," as the Prophet was 
sometimes pleased to call them, is unveiled. 

It was about one year previous to the death of Hartly, 



312 Fifteen Years among the Mokmons. 

ihat the following incident occurred. Wiley Norton was 
going by our house one day on horseback, and calling at the 
gate, said he was on his way to assist in burying a dead body, 
that had been found a short distance out of the city, by two 
of the herd boys. These were smallish boys, employed in 
looking after the cattle, and to assist the herdsmen. They 
had reported the fact of finding che body when they came in 
the night before, and by this time the Gentiles had heard of 
it, and a great number of stories were in circulation. Among 
others, that a Gentile had been murdered by the Mormons, 
which was probably true ; but there was no evidence of it. 
Wiley said he would call when he returned, and tell us what 
he saw, and all he could learn about it. In the evening, 
Wiley, as he had promised, called and gave us the following 
facts. He said : 

" We went out with the boys to find the body, who took 
us to the log, behind, and partly under which, it was hidden. 
When we came near it, and the boys pointed where it was, 
brother Jeddy (Jedadiah M. Grant) told them, there was no 
dead man in that place. And this was true, for we had 
already removed it. He then attempted to make them 
acknowledge they were mistaken ; but the boys persisted in 
the statement first made They said thev saw it yesterday 
and knew what it was, although it was now gone. Brothei 
J eddy's object was to have the boys return to the city, anc 
report that they had never seen the body, but that they had 
told the story as a joke ; which coupled with the fact, thau 
it was not to be found, would allay the excitement among 
the i Gentiles.' This the bovs refused to do: 'for how 



Punishment of Heresy. 313 

could we V asked the honest little fellows, * for we did 
see it.' 

<; Brother Grant told them, if they would not, he would take 
them to the slough and have them drowned. Still they re- 
fused, and we took them to the water, and brother Jeddy put 
one of them in, and held him there until he was quite ex- 
hausted, and when he could breathe again, he said as reso- 
lute as ever, that the man was dead ; for he saw, and could 
smell him. He knew it. This was repeated several times, 
with a similar result. We then dug a grave, and told the 
other boy we would bury him alive if he did not go to the 
city, and contradict the statement the two had first made. 
What a time we had with them. The boys were good blood, 
I tell you. Although the one that we were about to bury 
consented, the other was silent, and so brother Grant let them 
off for the present ; and one of them has set it right with the 
Gentiles, who now believe the story of the dead body was a 
hoax, got up by the boys. I believe the boy that brother 
Jeddy put in the water, avoids having anything to say 
about it." 

When the reader reflects that it was but the merest chance 
that brought this fact under my notice, and that a hundred 
such incidents might, and probably did occur, unknown to 
any one, except to the perpetrators of them, he will be able 
to form something of an estimate of the amount of crime com- 
mitted by the Heads of the Church, and by their authority 
Certainly there must be a day of reckoning for such as these. 
The Mormons recognize the right, and inculcate the duty of 

14 



314 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

the father to slay his daughter or her lover, as a last resort, 
to prevent her marriage with a " Gentile." 

Many facts are within my knowledge, illustrative of this 
point. Several occurred of some note, the winter Colonel 
Steptoe was at the valley with his regiment. One of his sol- 
diers became attached to Amanda Tanner, a Mormon girl, 
with whom I was well acquainted. Her father forbade their 
meeting, and confined her to the house, until he supposed the 
attachment had been forgotten ; and she was left alone one 
day, for a few hours, and the girl sent for her soldier, who came 
of course. Unfortunately, the father returned sooner than 
expected, and finding the Gentile there, took his sword and 
charged upon the lover, before he knew the enraged father 
was in the house. But fortune favored the soldier ; for Mr. 
Tanner, in his haste, and in the act of striking, brought the 
point of his sword against a beam, breaking it in several 
pieces, and the Gentile escaped. 

The father, still holding the handle of the shivered blade, 
said to the trembling girl : Listen. When you are caught 
in Gentile company again, you shall die ;" and she knew he 
would do what he said, and she gave up the Gentile. The 
soldier was prosecuted, and heavily fined. 

The same winter one of Col. Steptoe's officers formed an 
acquaintance with a daughter of John Taylor — Mary Ann. 
She was a very interesting girl ; and the intimacy ripened 
into a mutual attachment. Her father is one of the Twelve 
Apostles, and a man of great influence in the Church ; and 
was, at the time, living in New York, where he edited a paper 
known as the " Mormon." 



Punishment cf Heresy. 315 

m 

On account of her beauty, as well as the position of her 
father, Mary Ann was much sought after, both by old grey- 
headed Saints among the Heads of the Church, and by younger 
aspirants for saintly and matrimonial honors. But the bud- 
ding instincts of her young womanhood naturally revolted 
against the dark future promised her by Mormon wifeism ; 
and she preferred the Gentile. She succeeded in getting be- 
fore Judge Kinney with her lover, and they were married. 
This was a termination more fortunate than she could have 
expected, had the father been at home. For when he heard 
of it, he wrote to the Prophet, blaming him very severely for 
not preventing the marriage by the sacrifice of her life. He 
wrote that he should always feel dissatisfied because the blood 
of his daughter had not been shed to atone for the sin of 
marrying out of the Church. She was afterwards cut off from 
the Saints, and publicly traduced by Orson Hyde, who hau 
been one of her admirers before. 

This precious man, Hyde, whose number of wives was great 
already, had urged the mother very strongly to force Mary 
Ann to marry him, even against her own consent, which ex- 
treme measure might have been resorted to, had Col. Steptoe's 
military force not been at hand. When the regiment left 
the valley, she accompanied her husband. 

That the strictness as to the intermarriage with Gentiles 
was a question of policy, and not one of principle, was shown 
by the course pursued by the Prophet, in relation to the In- 
dian chief, Walker. This chief was at the head of a powerful 
tribe in the western part of the territory. Some cause of 
parrel had interrupted the good understanding before exist 



316 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

ing between "Walker and the " Mormon Chief," as the former 
called Brigham Young ; and the Prophet, wishing to reesta- 
blish friendly relations, and also to found a permanent in- 
fluence favorable to the Saints within the tribe, attempted to 
induce some of the Mormon women to marry Walker, as a 
means of effecting that object. I heard the Prophet say one 
day, to a young girl, that the Mormon woman that would vol- 
teer to make that sacrifice for the Church, should have a 
crown of Immortal Glory in the celestial kingdom. The 
matter created great excitement among us at the time, and it 
was expected that some of the girls were to be " coun- 
selled " to accept this " mission," as none were found so reck- 
less of peace and womanly " glory " in this world as to volun- 
teer to hazard it for the prospective glory of the next. But 
either on account of some misgivings on the part of the 
Prophet as to the policy of forcing the acceptance of the dusky 
warrior as a husband upon an unwilling maiden, or for some 
other reason, the matter was delayed until the chief suddenly 
died from some cause unknown. It was remarked, however, at 
the time, that the Prophet was seldom at fault in knowing how 
to accomplish his aims, and the death of the chief, whether by 
natural or foul means, was followed by a new line of policy, i. e. 
by the marriage of the Indian women by the Mormon men sent 
to preach among them, and this has now become the settled 
policy of the Church, pursued not only in that, but among all 
the Indian tribes within the reach of Mormon influence. So 
successfully has this policy been pursued that not many years 
shall pass before all the Indian tribes west of the Rocky 
Mountains, and probably all the others, between whose hunt- 



Punishment of Heresy. 317 

ing grounds and Utah, civilized migration has set up no bar- 
rier, will acknowledge the Prophet's sway. And when that 
day comes, the United States Government shall find in the 
Prophet and his people a more formidable adversary than is 
now dreamed of. Will the warning be heeded in time ? 

After Walker's death, he was succeeded in the government 
of the tribe by his brother, Squash Head. I knew but little 
of the character of this chief. He was looked upon as be- 
ing not very sagacious, but at the same time, remarkably ob- 
stinate. He soon fell under the censure of the Prophet, who 
had taken offence at the obstacles Squash Head interposed 
to the influence of the Mormon missionaries sent to his 
tribe. 

The Prophet intrigued to decoy the chief to the city, and 
then upon some charge, either real or trumped up for the oc- 
casion, had him arrested, and thrown into prison, where he 
remained for a long time. 

The chief was attended in his prison by a " Danite," by 
whom he was regularly furnished with food. This attendant 
represents that one morning he took his breakfast to him, and 
left with it, thoughtlessly, a case knife ; and that when he re- 
turned an hour after to remove the dishes, and the remains 
of the breakfast, he found the chief dead. He had cut his 
throat with a very dull case knife ! This was a version of 
the story first circulated ; but it was very soon after this gene- 
rally understood that the poor old Indian was murdered by the 
Prophet's order, as his influence among his tribe was consid- 
ered an obstacle to the spread of the faith among them ; and 
for that reason, was held to be justifiable by the great body 



318 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

of the Church. This circumstance was freely spoken of among 
us at the time, and I never heard these facts questioned. 

I deem this a fitting place to mention another circumstance, 
which occurred while I was at the valley. I refer to the 
massacre of Capt. Gunnison and his party, as was supposed 
at the time by the Indians. I have heard the circumstances 
of this atrocious murder discussed frequently at Great Salt 
Lake, by the Heads of the Church, and by the Prophet, and 
others. In all these cases, it was exultingly claimed by 
them, and unquestioned in well informed circles among us, 
that Capt. Gunnison and his party were murdered by the 
" Danites," disguised as Indians, by, and with the knowledgo, 
and " counsel " of the Prophet. It was, however, believed by 
some that the massacre was perpetrated by the Indians in 
fact, but instigated by the Prophet — all parties agreeing in 
this, that it was done for the good of the Church, which justi- 
fied the act. My belief is, that the first theory is the true 
one. I could state many facts going to prove this. The 
generally received opinion in the Church upon that subject 
should have some weight ; and I never heard any other opi- 
nion expressed, until I came to the States, about one year 
since. I was one day at my brother's house, where a small 
company were assembled, when this subject came up ; and 
Edmond Ellsworth said, among many other things, " I think 
Uncle Sam will get sick of sending officers here, when we 
serve a few more as we served Gunnison." 

Ellsworth is a son-in-law of the Prophet, having married 
for his first, and only wife, Elizabeth, the oldest daughter of 
Brigham Young. 



Punishment of Heresy. 319 

Thus, his statement should be entitled to the more weight, 
as he was known to be familiar with the Prophet. There 
was, in fact, no effort made at concealment, and it was freely 
talked of among ourselves, although it was scrupulously kept 
from the knowledge of the Gentiles, and from those Mor- 
mons whose discretion or orthodoxy was doubtful. 






320 Fifteen Years among- the Mormons. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



TOOILLE. 



One day, soon after the termination of my adventures with 
Mr. Mac, when I was busily engaged in making arrangements 
for my journey to Tooille, one of the wives of Jedadiah M. 
Grant came to our house and urged me very hard to go home 
with her. Although unwilling to spend the time, as I was 
very anxious to escape from this city of abominations, I con- 
sented, and when there, I found the Prophet, Orson Hyde, J. 
M. Grant, and several women, pleasantly employed in the en- 
joyment of a social party. As I went in, the Prophet said 
very graciously : " Well, Nett, I am happy to see you. I 
was thinking that when we met last, you felt the influence of 
a bad spirit. Evil spirits make one feel discontented. The 
spirits of the Gentiles that have died in our midst are always 
about us, waiting for another tabernacle to enter." 

" I trust you do not expect to assign to me the mission of 
looking up ' tabernacles ' for them." 

" I see, Mary Ettie is getting discouraged," said brother 
taddy Grant. " You must give her a blessing; and here is 
cme of my first and best wives, Rosetta, who is almost ready 
to leave me, and run off with a Gentile. If you will bless 



Tooille. 321 

them, I will write for you, and hereafter, when they get 
the c horribles/ they can find encouragement in reading 
these and be consoled." 

Brother Grant then took a pen and wrote the words of the 
Prophet, who blessed us both, first one, and then the other. 
The following is an exact copy of mine from the original still 
in my possession. The Prophet rested his hands upon my 
head as he pronounced it: 

" Sister Mary Ettie : 

11 1 seal these blessings upon your head, that will be given 
by me, or by my Heavenly Father through me. Treasure 
them, as words of wisdom. Get wisdom and understanding. 
Take no thought beforehand, what you shall do, for the Holy 
Ghost will teach you ; and thou shalt be mighty in word and 
in deed, shalt confound all that oppose you, and put the 
tongue of slander to shame ; have a posterity that will hold thy 
name in honorable remembrance through, all their genera- 
tions. Thou shalt be able to stop the mouths of lions, quench 
the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword ; &hall have 
wisdom to direct you at all times, shall live to see the * wind- 
ing up scene of this generation,' shall have a companion 
suited to your condition, and inherit all the blessings of the 
Redeemer's Kingdom, forever and ever. Amen." 

I then gave place to Rosetta, who received one similar to 
mine. She was a quiet, uncomplaining victim to a faith and 
practice, to which she had submitted in an evil hour, without 
fullv comprehending its hardships. 
14* 



322 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Although no word had passed between us, and she 
accepted the blessing with a becoming grace, I knew she 
estimated it as I did, as but a mockery ; and yet there lingered 
within the heart of both a recollection of the time, when the 
Church to us was pure. "When the Prophet Joseph administered 
and wrought seeming miracles before astonished multitudes. 
And for the moment the crimes of the present Heads of the 
Church were forgotten, and the ancient enthusiasm and faith 
whi<jh stirred our hearts in the earlier days and in the wilder- 
ness, or when threatened by the menacing shouts of Gentile 
mobs, returned to cheer us. But this enthusiasm was but mo- 
mentary. We reasoned with our own hearts thus. Grant that 
double wifeism is right, notwithstanding its practice involves, 
as a necessity, the cruel sacrifice of all a woman holds most 
dear ; yet crime — positive crime, is not, cannot be right. 
What the Church clearly demands, the true believer should 
doubtless concede ; but the commission of robbery, murder, 
and treason to the government cannot be necessary to a pure 
Church. Yet these men, now before us, on whose shoulders 
the government of the Church has fallen, on one of whom 
has descended the mantle of our Prophet Joseph, of blessed 
and martyr memory, were guilty of all these, and worse, if 
worse were possible. Was it wrong, then, to doubt these 
men ? And yet, if the Church were ever genuine, is she not 
*o still, albeit wanting purity ? 

Floating thus among doubts and dear old remembrances, 
was it strange that the gracious benediction thus received 
should have been invested by us with some degree of sanctity, 
or that for the moment we looked upon these men ;? " * 7 



Tooille. 323 

exalted capacity, of miuistrants in Heavenly offices, and 
ash y remembered afterwards, they were but broken vessels ? 
I trust those of my readers who regard Mormonism as a de- 
lusion, and who have never been swayed by its enthusiasms, 
or felt its fascinations — for it possessed originally both these 
elements in an eminent degree — will not judge us too harshly. 
Human nature as essentially the same, under similar circum- 
stances ; and if many Christian people were to look closely 
into their own hearts, possibly they would find their attach- 
ment to orthodox and approved systems, resting upon no bet- 
ter foundations than ours ; and many would find they were 
indebted, alone, to a more kindly interposition of Providence, 
that they had been reared and were yet under the influence 
of a better faith and a truer system ; and that they adhere to it, 
for reasons little better than those which bind an honest Mor- 
mon to his. I have deemed it proper to urge this modest claim 
to the sympathy of the civilized world, not on my own account, 
but in behalf of the many thousands of innocent persons in 
Utah, who would forsake Mormonism, as I have done, if they 
were once left unawed by the power of the Prophet, from 
which there is no hope of escape, until the General Govern- 
ment shall interfere, with a strong arm, for the protection of 
civil rights in the territory. But it is more particularly in 
behalf of the women of Utah, for whom I bespeak the active 
sympathy of all Christian people. There are to-day from fif 
teen to twenty thousand mothers and daughters within the 
territory, suffering under a cruel enslavement within those 
Mormon harems, who would make any sacrifice for freedom ; 
and many a mother there who would deem the emancipation 



324 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

of her children cheaply won, if secured at no greater cost than 
that of her own poor life. Indeed, the only bond that holds 
many to an unwilling existence there, is the mother's instinc- 
tive love of her offspring. Will the mothers and daughters, 
who owe all they have and are to the influence of the Bible, 
disregard the cries of these suffering women coming from the 
far off Mormon land, the agony of whose groans, if made audi- 
ble to the world, though but for a moment, would rend the 
heart of Christendom ? 

The next morning found me on the way to Tooille. This 
beautiful valley, though no great distance west of the city as 
the crow flies, is, by the wagon road, twenty-two miles. We 
^ave before stated, that Salt Lake city was built on the east 
_ank of the River Jordan. Ten miles, or more, from the west 
bank of the stream, and facing the city, rises abruptly to a 
great height, a rugged and barren ridge, known as West 
Mountain. With its base separated from the placid waters 
of the gentle river, by a wide interval of grassy bottom, and 
its summit whitened by snows that know no summer, this 
range would have offered an insurmountable barrier to direct 
travel west, had it not been suddenly terminated some miles 
to the north by the waters of Great Salt Lake, on the brink 
of whose briny shore it rises in an abrupt headland, as if, 
when suddenly arrested there, it had gathered itself up to give 
fitting expression to the bold protest it meant to frown for 
ever from its frosty top against the unnatural intrusion of this 
inland sheet of brine. 

After crossing the " bottom," in a westerly direction to the 
mountain, the road wound its difficult and narrow way 



Tooille. 325 

northerly to the lake, and thence, clinging to its base, close to 
the water's rocky margin, it rounded the headland, and then 
turning to the left, swept back to the south again, and soon 
debouched into a smiling valley, on the other side of the 
mountain. This is Tooille. My brother lived about one mile 
from the lake, at E. T. city. This stake was named after Ezra 
T. Benson, one of the M Twelve ;" where he (Benson) owned a 
mill, and kept several of his wives. The land at the lower 
part of the valley is not fertile, on account of the salt with 
which the ground appears to be saturated; but farther up, 
where this does not exist, it is said to be very productive, 
and everyhere it is well adapted to grass. As well on account 
of the soft and genial air of the mountains, which circulates 
through the valley, bearing health to the inhabitants, as of the 
simple beauty of the landscape and to its general productive- 
ness, this is a most delightful region, and, uncursed by Mor- 
monism, would be an earthly Paradise. 

In rounding the headland we passed the mouth of an open 
cave, extending deep into the mountain. Nearly opposite 
E. T. city, the bosom of the lake is broken by a beautiful 
island several miles in extent, remarkable for its spring of 
sweet fresh water, although surrounded by the salt and bitter 
waters of the lake. This delightful island is devoted to the 
pasturage of cattle having the " Church brand " upon them. 
The cattle of all who have consecrated their property to the 
Church, bear this brand. The island is partly wooded, and 
is a great resort for every species of wild bird. Brant and 
other geese, ducks and sand-hill cranes crowd here, mingled 
with other game, in uncounted swarms ; and often the noiso 



326 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

of their calls, and flutterings, and wild screams, comes over 
the waters of the glassy lake like the noisy murmur of an 
excited multitude ; as if to invite the sportsmen of the world 
io the slaughter. 

I passed the fall here very pleasantly with my brother and 
the society of Martha, his only wife. She had thus far suc- 
cessfully fought spiritual wifeisrn from her door, and still pre- 
served her isolated household ; and until winter set in we lived 
comparatively free from the usual disquietude of Mormon life 

Colonel Steptoe had made Salt Lake City the headquarter?* 
of his regiment for the winter ; and it had already transpired 
that he would allow such Mormon women as threw them- 
selves upon his protection, to accompany him from the terri 
tory in the Spring. 

This state of things was creating great anxiety among 
the male members and heads of the Church ; for there was 
already a flutter among the inmates of the harems; and the 
affair of Mary Ann Taylor, before referred to, proved they 
had reason for serious apprehension. There were, in fact, 
several other similar cases under advisement. Various 
rumors of these things reached our quiet valley; but it had 
never occurred to me that I could avail myself of this oppor- 
tunity to make my escape, until the idea was suggested by 
an uncalled for severity on the part of the Prophet. He sent 
Orson Hyde to the president of our stake, with an order to 
keep me under the strictest watch, and on no account to 
allow me to leave my brother's house without his permission 
— which would not be granted until the Gentile soldiers left 
in the Spring. It was but a short time after this, that my 



Tooille. 327 

brother was directed to keep me confined mostly to my room, 
but to afford me, otherwise, every thing necessary to my 
comfort. I deemed this a sort of violation of the tacit under- 
standing between us ; and I resolved to meet it by an effort 
to accomplish the very thing the Prophet wished to place 
beyond a perad venture of happening. A circumstance soon 
occurred which opened the way. 

My brother's principal business at the valley was to look 
after his farm ; but at this time he was engaged in selling 
goods for Mr. Hockiday, a respectable Gentile merchant, 
from one of the States. This man spent a part of the time 
at the valley, and was a friend of Mr. Mac's. The latter had 
given him an account of the manner he had been decoyed by 
me, in the milking affair, and expressed the opinion, that I 
had been prompted to it by a Mormon influence which I dare 
not resist, and wished him to inquire of me how it was. 

Mr. Hockiday came to my brother's house one morning, 
and after exchanging the usual salutations with Martha, 
inquired for me. He had already learned that I was con- 
fined to my room, and the reason why. Martha told him 
where I was, but gave him no encouragement about seeing 
me ; and, in fact, showed a disposition to evade the subject. 
Seeing which, he replied : " Then I think I will step in and 
see her a moment." And without giving Martha time for 
reflection, came in, unattended, with an assurance that proved 
he had an object in view. I was at first greatly astonished, 
but I soon recognized in his straightforward manner of doing 
business, an honest purpose, and a wish to serve me. 

M How do you get on, Mrs. Smith ?" said he, bluntly. 



328 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

" Very well, I thank you." 

I knew Martha had not consented to his coming in, and 
although she was every way friendly to me, she still dreaded 
to disobey the Prophet. 

" I understand," said Mr. Hockiday, " that quite an event 
has taken place in our Gentile community. That you, and 
other important characters, have been taking advantage of 
my friend Mac, who is as good-hearted a man as was ever 
victimized in this Mormon land. How is it ?" 

" It is true," said I ; " but it was his own fault. He has no 
one to blame but himself." 

" No doubt. But you know, Mrs. Smith, what an influence 
women have always exerted over men. Since the world 
began they have plied the vocation of Eve, with a success 
beyond that of the first mother, and it is all natural and right 
within its legitimate channel, and for proper objects ; but it i? 
a new thing under the sun, and an abomination, that thi? 
weakness of our poor human nature, should be turned into 
a source of profit to these Mormon pickpockets, through the 
agency of an organized band of female decoys, trained by the 
heads of the Church to do this business systematically. Is 
not this so, Mrs. Smith ? ^ Are not these things done by 
direction of the Prophet ? We understand you women do 
them unwillingly, but with none the less effect on that 
account. Your victims will, of course, pay heavily, rathei 
than be exposed : hence these cases are seldom heard of. 
But I can assure you that a knowledge of another class of 
crimes cannot be suppressed. Murder will out, in time." 

At this point, Martha, who had heard our conversation 



Tooille. 329 

came to the door, and said : " Mr. Hockiday, I think your 
pony is loose." I suspected at once Martha had unloosed 
his horse that she might give me a word of caution ; and so 
it proved, for when he had gone out to look after the animal, 
she said to me, with some degree of earnestness : "Nett, you 
must avoid all conversation with that man. Doubtless every 
word you say to him will go to Washington to he used 
as evidence against us." 

I made no reply, and she gave me a look of sad sympathy, 
on leaving the room, just as Mr. Hockiday returned to it ; 
who said as he came in, " I cannot understand how my pony 
could get loose. But no matter, I must be off, I think." 
Then lowering his voice, he added, " there will be a good 
chance for those wishing to leave the territory in the spring, 
with the family of Mr. McClure, a gentleman now boarding 
with Judge Kinney, at Salt Lake. And then, giving me a 
look full of intelligence, he added there are several women of 
your acquaintance, who desire to go. They will be under the 
protection of the military force of Col. Steptoe ; and every 
thing will be safe and snug as could be wished. But I must 
be on my way." 

I made him no reply ; but my heart, now quite in a flutter 
of hope, must have made itself understood ; for in taking his 
leave, he repeated, over and over, certain nods, and expressive 
winks of encouragement. 

I went to bed that night with my head filled with floating 
visions of this new project. loo much excited to fix upon 
any feasible plan of operation, my mind sifted and rejected, 
over and over again, every possible and impossible scheme, 



330 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

which promised to crown the enterprise with success ; until 
quite prostrated by the chafing and fretting of my caged and 
overtaxed spirit, I fell asleep, and dreamed I had made the 
attempt, by climbing, on foot, the high ridge that separated 
our valley from the Jordan ; and that when I had gained the 
snowy top of the mountain, beyond the foot of which flowed 
the gentle river ; and was about to commence the descent, 
to where I saw the army of Col. Steptoe in waiting for me, 
the snows beneath my feet gave way : and riding upon an 
avalanch, I slid down the mountain side, with a rush, and a 
roar of thunder : and landed, as I dreamed, safely within the 
Endowment rooms, in the presence of the Prophet, and the 
Heads of the Church : who were assembled for the purpose 
of celebrating the horrid rite, of offering human sacrifices, and 
were only waiting for the victim ; which had now arrived, for 
I was to be offered. 

The wood upon a huge stone altar, in the centre of the 
roofless room, crackled and burned with a fierce and merry 
roar ; and the white robed-priests, with the Prophet at their 
head, approached to lay me upon the altar, to be slain. And 
when I saw the polished blade of the knife, gleam and flash 
in the light of the lire of the altar, I woke with a scream 
before it descended to do its work : and found myself in my 
own room, cowering under the .remembrance of the terrible 
vision. 

Does the spirit, disturbed by a high state of nervous excite- 
ment, sometimes flutter beyond the range of our grosser facul- 
ties, and make discoveries and investigations into truth ; and 
ferret out hidden secrets, from which, under ordinary circum 



Tooille. 331 

stances, we are, by the very necessities of our fiail humanity, 
debarred ? I have no theory of my own upon this subject ; 
but the remembrance of that night vision is still before me ; 
and when the dark and bloody history of those mystic cere- 
monies of the endowments are revealed and laid open to the 
day, then will be realized, as I still believe, the original of 
that dream, vague rumors of which ars even now floating 
upon the public mind, at Great Salt Lake, among those who 
have never dreamed upon the subjezU 



S32 Fifteen I^ears among the Mormons 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE FLIGHT AND RECAPTURE. 



For several day's I had serious misgivings as to the possi- 
bility of success, should I attempt an escape. But after giv- 
ing the subject a fair canvass, and weighing the chances, I 
found the balance to be in favor of the undertaking ; and 
when my mind was thus once settled, I was calm : and then, 
bending the whole energies of my soul in that one direction, 
I soon settled upon a plan of operation. A portion of the 
house occupied by my brother, had been dedicated to the use 
of public worship; and this part was in the end furthest 
removed from the room in which I was confined. 

The view from my room, in the direction of the mountain, 
was uninterrupted by dwellings, and the window opening that 
way had never been fastened ; and thus it will be seen, that 
to reach the mountain east of the valley, would be an easy 
matter, if a time was chosen when the mass of the inhabi- 
tants were not much abroad. 

On the following Sunday morning, I said to Martha : a I do 
not wish to attend the meeting of the Saints to-day. I am 
not well, and would seek rest. I shall lock my door, in ordei 



The Flight and Becapture. 333 

not to be disturbed ; and I wish you wculd not call me to 
dinner." 

" Very well, Mary Ettie, you look sick. You shAll take youi 
rest, rny sister, if there is any rest for you, I will see that 
no one disturbs you." 

" If there is rest for me I hope to find it soon," I replied, 
and returned to my room. 

Fastening the door, I waited patiently the assembling of the 
Saints, which was to be in the afternoon : until then I must 
remain quiet. I had before this provided myself with a loaf 
of bread and some matches from the pantry. 

This was in the month of February ; and the hills, and the 
ground in some places in the valley, were covered with snow. 
I put on my brother's boots, and packed up my husband's 
portrait with the bread and matches, and laid them aside 
with an Indian blanket ; and thus prepared myself to sally 
forth, upon the perilous adventure. 

There was no one in sight, except some Indians with their 
squaws, who were usually sauntering about the buildings, for 
the purpose of begging. Some of these squaws came to 
the window and asked for food, and I gave them some 
bread. Then, disguised as one of them, with my Indian 
blanket over my head, I removed the sash, and passed 
through the window to the ground ; and asked them, by 
signs which they appeared to comprehend, to accompany me. 
We all set out for the mountains, with the Indian lope pecu- 
liar to these tribes, in single file. 

As we hastened on to gain a point of the mountain nearest 
jo us, which should, when once passed, protect us against 



334: Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

observation from the settlement, my heart leaped with joy 
under an inspiring sense of freedom, and the bracing influ- 
ence of this unwonted exercise in the open air, yet disturbed 
somewhat by the chilling fear, lest, by some mischance, my 
escape should be discovered before reaching the mountains. 
This once passed, I left my dusky friends, and plunged alone 
into the nearest caiion, little comprehending, in ray eager- 
ness to evade my human foes, how great the pevil I was 
braving among the wild beasts of the mountain. I wished 
to secrete myself here until after dark, to evade pursuit. 

Let the reader imagine a lofty and barren range, with its 
top in the clouds, and covered with snow, having its side 
split by a deep, narrow gorge, little wider in places than a 
fissure, and at others, yawning deep and broad, and winding 
apparently into the very heart of the mountain, and some- 
times quite through it ; with the ragged jaws thus laid open, 
partly covered with a light growth of timber or stunted 
shrubs, the bottom drained by the fretting current of a 
stream, tumbling from the melting snows above, so far down 
among the rocks, as to be at some points beyond the reach 
of the sun's rays, and he will have a faint picture of a canon. 
These celebrated canons are a peculiar feature in the scenery 
of Utah. They are the sources from whence the settler in . 
the valleys draws his supply of wood for fuel, and whence 
flows the w r ater necessary for irrigation and similar purposes. 
But they are not untenanted. Here the terrible grizzly 
bear, famed as the fiercest denizen of these wilds, makes his 
home with the wolf, the cougar or mountain lion, and manj 



The Flight and Recapture. 335 

other beasts of prey, scarcely less dangerous when pressed 
by hunger. 

It was up one of these wild passes I now made my diffi- 
cult way ; but not liking the appearance of the one I had 
entered, I passed over the sharp point of a hill, which sepa- 
rated it from one farther to the north. Gaining this with 
ease, I picked my way among the vast rocks, and in some 
places, over the loose sand until it was quite dark. By thia 
time, I had made a headwav of some two miles, as I judged, 
up the dismal pass. Fatigued by an exercise to which I was 
unaccustomed, and fearing the wild beasts, I built a fire close 
by a huge rock, and on that side of it furthest from the 
mouth of the canon. The night was closing in, cold and 
chill ; but I found the cheerful blaze, which soon lit up the 
broken rocks about me, very comfortable ; for w 7 hen the 
heat and excitement of my sharp walk had subsided, I felt 
myself pinched and stiffened by the cold, almost to numbness. 
I had not until then comprehended fully the hazard of my 
undertaking. Though at first appalled by the wild scenery 
suddenly revealed by the blazing fagots I had hastily collect- 
ed ; with the thousand shapes, which I dared not scrutinize 
too closely, for fear they would assume some real and living 
form of danger, yet I preferred my present prospect of free- 
dom, with all its hazard and discomfort, to the bare possibility 
of returning to my Mormon prison. 

When warmed and sufficiently rested, I began to cast about 
for some plan for future operations. I had succeeded thus 
far; but the next problem was to reach the citv, which was a 
long way round the mountain. Mv best chance of success 



336 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

was mainly dependent upon the amount of headway I could 
make the first night ; for if I could pass the narrow road 
along the lake, which turned the headland, before daylight, 
my prospects would be fair for reaching the city sometime 
(he following night. 

I therefore decided to set out at once, and make the most 
of the darkness. At all events, I dare not remain in the 
canon all night alone. I was fully refreshed, after having 
eaten some bread, and warmed my stiffened limbs by the fire. 
I waited sometime after nightfall, and then trusting to my dis- 
guise, and a good fortune, which I felt ought not to desert 
me at a time when I stood so much in need of its protection, 
I retraced my steps down the caiion, to find the road leading 
to the city. 

Though familiar with the locality of the road by daylight, 
I found it a difficult thing to find it in the night ; and I was 
obliged to return, until within sight of the buildings from 
whkih I had fled before I was enabled to regain it. But I 
succeeded at last, and then took up my line of march in good 
spirits. I travelled on easily, and without mishap, until about 
midnight, when I heard two men coming towards me, from 
the direction I was going. I quickly hid myself in some sage 
bushes by the road, and listened to their conversation. 

I soon recognized the voice of my brother Howard, who 
was accompanied by Mr. Maughn, the President of the stake. 
He was speaking to the latter with a tone of sadness which 
went to my heart. It appeared they had been in pursuit of 
me, and were now returning quite disheartened. 

II After all," said Howard, as if in continuation of the con* 



The Flight and Recapture. 337 

versation between them, " Mormonisui has not quite broken 
the chords of nature, which bind me to my sister. Oh ! where 
is she ? It is injustice that has driven her to seek refuge 
anions: the wild beasts of the forest. To think of her wander- 
ing in this horrible place alone. She must certainly perish 
with cold before morning, if she is not destroyed by beasts of 
prey. I am almost frozen myself." 

They had halted near me ; and Mr. Maughn, of whom heart- 
lessness was characteristic, said : 

"Brother Coray, there is no use of hunting further for her. 
The courage that prompted the act will not desert her. She 
has the advantage of me, for I am almost alarmed to be in 
such a place. She cannot be far off, but it will be useless to 
look for her." 

" She has fortitude," said Howard, " and has been schooled 
to danger her whole life. Mr. Maughn, we little know how 
much the girl has suffered ; but I fear she has gone now." 

In the few moments that I listened to this conversation, I 
ran over the chances of success, and asked myself the question, 
with the seriousness befitting one who discusses a point on 
which hangs his life, if I should embrace the present oppor- 
tunity to return to my home, or hold on my way. I chose 
the latter. When they were out of hearing again, I travelled 
on cheerfully and hopeful. 

It was not until about daylight that I discovered I had 
missed my way, and that I was still not far from the settle* 
ment. I was greatly disheartened by this discovery, and after 
resting myself a short time, I found the right road, plain 

15 



338 Fifteen Yeaks among the Mormons. 

enough by daylight, and with what heart I could muster, ] 
went on again. 

I soon began to meet the goers and comers to and from the 
settlement ; but I was so well disguised with my Indian blan- 
ket that I was not recognized, although many were known to 
me. But my long night's travel and want of rest began to 
tell upon me ; and I found myself so much exhausted that I 
was obliged to seek rest by the roadside. I was now in an 
open prairie, with no cover near ; and it was with some alarm 
that I saw two horsemen coming up the road towards me. 
As they were evidently from the " stake," I felt certain they 
would not pass without looking into my face, and if it should 
turn out that one was my brother, nothing could prevent my 
being recognized. 

I rose from the ground before they saw me, and moved off 
leisurely from the road to the right, hoping to put such a dis- 
tance between them and myself, by the time they arrived op- 
posite me, as to mislead them. 

I was confident of my disguise as against the eyes of every 
one except my brother ; but it proved that he was one of the 
horsemen. They were already a little passed me, and I began 
to breathe freely again, when Howard said to his companion, 
George Bryant, " that is Ettie." 

" Ettie," said Bryant, impatiently, " that is a squaw." 

" At all events," replied Howard, " I must see, for I think 
that is the walk of my sister." 

Leaving brother Bryant, he came near me, and said, 
with a lone that proved he was not fully certain he was 
right* ' B 



The Flight and Recapture. 339 

" Nett, you had better ride." 

I turned round at once, and said, " Possibly I had, for I am 
nearly tired to death — too tired to get up behind you." 

By some effort, I succeeded in getting on to the horse with 
his assistance ; and when we rode back to where Mr. Bryant 
was waiting in the road, he said, " Well done for us." 

" But not so well done for me," I replied. 

" Oh, I think you will be satisfied in a few days, said he ; 
that it is better even for you. We have had every man in 
the settlement out looking all night, and they are still scour- 
ing the mountains for you. 

" Did you take Smith's portrait with you ?" said my 
brother. 

II Certainly." 

" It is owing to the influence of that portrait that she can- 
not forget the original," said Bryant. "Hand it to me, 
Nett." 

I told him I preferred to keep it ; but he insisted upon 
taving it. I looked to my brother for protection, but finding 
no sign of sympathy for the portrait in him, I was forced 
to yield, and I handed it to him with a presentiment that it 
was lost to me. I asked him to return it. 

Opening it, he said, u Well, he is good looking. I am not 
surprised at your efforts to get to him. I am sorry to injure 
your feelings, Nett ; but you can never see this again." 

Dismounting, he dug a hole in the ground, with a long 
kr ife he wore in a scabbard at his side, and buried it — buried 
all I had left of my husband. 

Little was said between us, as we slowly letwrned to the 



340 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

settlement. It seemed that every desire of life was crushed 
out of me. 

A man soon overtook and passed us, by whom my brother 
sent word to the president of the stake that I had been found. 
We saw, before reaching home, a large flag elevated upon a 
pole, in honor of the " capture/' and carried through the set- 
tlement, and heard the firing of guns ; and when we arrived, 
the streets of our little stake were full of men, women, and 
children, and Indians, to see a conquered woman. 

" This will be a lesson to her, as well as to other women," 
6aid the president of the stake, heartlessly, as we came to dis- 
mount ; and he added, " May the spirit of the living God 
hereafter direct vou, Nett." 

But I heard little more, and was indifferent to what I did 
hear ; for, half famished and exhausted by excitement and 
long travel, and exposure to cold and want of sleep, I was 
carried into the house, and put into the possession of Martha. 
I recollect seeing her kind and gentle face, beaming upon 
me with pity, as she received me with a tenderness peculiar 
to her, and sent back the crowd from the door. Days of suf- 
fering, of burning fever followed, of which I have but little 
recollection, save that Martha was always near, and her sooth- 
ing presence was the good angel which wooed me back half 
reconciled to life again. She told me afterwards that I had 
spent much of the time in pleading with the Prophet, who I 
imagined to be present, that he would not have my husband 
buried alive — an idea traceable to the loss of his portrait, 
taken from me, and buried by Bryant. 

I awoke one morning, as if from a long and troubled sleep, 



Tiik Flight and Recapture. 341 

and heard Martha in conversation with Howard ; and I soon 
understood that I was the subject of it. I was free from pain, 
and calm ; but it was some time before I was fully able to 
call to mind the events connected with my attempted escape. 

Martha was representing in a subdued and earnest man- 
ner to Howard, how cruel it was to keep me imprisoned thus 
from my husband. She said, " If Nett is ever well again, she 
shall be restored to her husband. Mormonism of late blights 
whatever it touches, and is fast becoming past endurance. 
Don't you think you men, who claim to be our saviours, run 
some risk of being called to an account in the next world V* 
She said many other things which I do not recollect. 

Howard listened thoughtfully to the strong good sense of 
Martha's plea in my behalf; and evidently struggling against 
the bonds of his implicit Mormon faith, said at length : 

"Brother Brigham must be counselled as to Nett at once. 
I cannot bear this state of things. It makes me wretched. I 
wish she could be satisfied to make what sacrifices the Church 
demands of her ; but if she cannot, we must try to lighten the 
load for which her faith seems to be too weak." 

As I slowly regained my usual health and tone of mind, it 
became a question of serious concern with me, what effect my 
late adventure might have with the Prophet. I knew that, 
on my brother's account, he would be disposed in a measure 
to overlook my fault; and yet a due regard to dicipline 
among the women would force him to hold me up as an 
example. 

While thus debating with myself what line of conduct to 
pursue, the Prophet directed me to return to the city. I 



342 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

obeyed him, and when we met, I explained frankly, why I had 
attempted to escape ; and I judged it best to indicate to him, 
that now I had no further wish that way. That I was dis- 
posed to content myself with Mormonism as I found it; and 
hoped he would impose upon me .no serious burdens 
again. 

He received me graciously, and seemed to accept my pro- 
fessions of reformation as. if made in good faith. I felt, how- 
ever I could not expect him to believe in me fully at first : 
and he soon gave me reason to know he did not ; for after 
this, I had frequent opportunities to leave the territory ; but 
I positively declined them all ; fearing they came from Mor- 
mons in disguise, although professedly of Gentile origin. 
The event proved this was true : the hand of the Prophet was 
at the bottom of it. He wished to test in this way, the sin- 
cerity of my return to the true fold ; but he was not long in 
coming to the conclusion, that I could really be trusted again. 
I well knew that my only hope of a final success lay in such 
a well dissembled contentment, as should in the end, regain his 
confidence ; and I pursued this line of policy until it paved 
the way for my success, at length, when I had nearly aban- 
doned myself to despair. 



Hopb. 343 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

HOPE. 

It was in the spring of 1855 that I returned to the city 
from Tooille. My sister Lizzie had been married the previ- 
ous year to Richard Cordon, an Englishman by birth and a 
Mormon. He was a member of a military corps known at 
the valley as the " Minute men." This is a body distinct 
from that of the " Danites." The latter are set apart for 
secret assassinations and such other acts as have no foundation 
in right but the Prophet's will and order: white the former 
is a well drilled corps of picked men, taking more the char- 
acter of a militia, held in reserve for general defence. Both 
however are equally subject to the Prophet's control; and 
their hands are perhaps equally staiued with innocent blood. 
The Danite band, however, being a smaller body of tried and 
devoted adherents of the Prophet, who render an unques- 
tioning obedience to his counsel, have, individually, committed 
by far the greatest amount of crime. 

The darkest annals of the world can scarcely furnish a more 
terrible record, than would the simple biography of a few of 
these Danite leaders. When that record is written, the names 



344 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

of Porter Rockwell, Wm. Hickman, Hiram Clawson, Cap- 
tain James Brown, John and Wiley Norton, James Furguson, 
Robert Burton, and others, whose names I do not recollect, 
will be found linked with the most cruel and bloody acts, 
that have ever disgraced humanity. 

Rockwell was the leader of this band at Nauvoo ; but 
Wm. -Hickman is now supposed to fill that post ; having won 
this distinction, by his daring and success. It is said, that 
his soul knows no pity ; and he fears no law but the Prophet's 
will. It was this man who won for his band the title now 
proudly borne by them ; viz., " Destroying Angels." 

Some time in the following summer, my mother received a 
letter from my third sister, Mrs. Phebe Knapp, still living in 
Pennsylvania, near the old homestead. 

The letter stated, that a piece of land, which for some rea- 
son my father did not sell when he moved from Pennsylva- 
nia ; but which he had left in the possession of his relatives 
there, was without a legal claimant. That this land until 
recently, had been regarded of but little value ; but was now 
supposed to contain valuable deposits of coal : and advised 
her to return, for the purpose of securing it for herself and 
children. 

"We paid but little attention to this at first, as we had never 
known much about my father's affairs ; and had no knowledge 
of this particular property. Moreover, we had no reason to 
hope the Prophet would consent to our leaving the valley 
But my brother-in-law. Richard Corden, went to him 
with this information, which excited his curiosity so 
much, that be sent for Howard, who was still at Tooille 



Hope. 345 

About this time, we obtained some account of the same thing 
through Judge Keed who was from Bath, Steuben Co., N. Y 
lie was one of the Judges of the territory, and an acquain 
tance of my mother's brother, Col. John R. Stephens of 
Hornellsville, N. Y., from whom he had learned these facts. 
My uncle had requested the Judge before he left the States, to 
inform my mother, that it would be necessary for her to return 
before she could regain possession of the property. 

This information, coming from different sources, confirmed 
the Prophet in the belief that there was something in it. 

When Howard came to the city, brother Brigham laid 
before him what he knew of the matter, and advised him to 
attend to it at once ; " for," said he, " the time is near at 
hand when the Gentiles and the Mormons will dissolve part- 
nership, and then it will be too late." 

lie referred in the above words to the time, never lost sight 
of by the. true Mormon, when it is expected the Church will 
throw off all allegiance to the General Government, and raise 
the standard of a Mormon theocracy: when an appeal to 
arms will be had, for the mastery in Utah. 

Mother was at this time over sixty years of age, and not in 
very good health. She refused to attempt the journey, unless 
Lizzie and myself were both allowed to go with her : " for it 
is not unlikely," said she, " that I shall die upon the plains, 
and I do not wish to be alone. If the Prophet insists upon 
it, I will go, and bring him the money for the property, if we 
find any ; but I must take my children with me." 

This appeared but reasonable. When Lizzie and myself 
were consulted, we both discouraged the enterprise. We 

15* 



446 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

professed an unwillingness to go, and attempted to convince 
the Prophet., that as to the property, it was a question of 
great uncertainty whether there was any, and a still more 
doubtful one, whether we should be able to obtain it. But as 
we had expected, this only fixed more firmly in his mind 
the determination, that we should make the attempt. He is 
not easily baffled when upon a money scent. He had set his 
mind upon it, and we submitted to the will of the " Prophet," 
and set about making preparations for the journey. I was 
questioned very closely by different persons, as I well knew 
by the Prophet's direction, with the secret intention of sound- 
ing my state of feeling. But I was never off my guard. I 
always regretted the necessity, and doubted the policy of the 
enterprise ; I had become satisfied with the Church, and given 
up my husband ; and I had no wish to leave Utah. So 
long and tiresome a journey, over the plains and back again 
had no attractions for me. I did not wish to undertake it, 
and I consented only on my mother's account. Elizabeth 
consented with the more cheerfulness, as her husband was to 
accompany us. And thus it fell out, providentially, as I 
nave since believed, that we were to leave by the open con* 
sent of the Prophet, this Mormon prison : of course under a 
promise to return. But we were going to a land where the 
will of the Prophet was not the law. I was so much elated 
with my prospects, that I trusted myself to speak upon the 
subject only with the greatest caution, and always with a 
sigh, and a long face. 

Mother had a city lot, on which her house stood. These 
lots contain an acre and a quarter of land, one fourth of which 



Hope. 347 

she had given tc mb. She obtained the permission of 
Brother Brigham to sell her place, to defray the expenses of 
her journey. I went to him to obtain his consent to sell 
mine ; giving as a reason that we might need the money 
before we returned. But to this he objected. He said tc 
me, " leave your lot in the care of brother Judd, and I will 
have him ornament it with trees and shrubs, and when you 
return you shall find it a little paradise. If you need any- 
thing for your journey, let me know when you are ready to 
start, and I will furnish what you lack, to make you comfort- 
able." 

I therefore consented to this arrangement with apparent 
cheerfulness, and thanked him for the interest he took in my 
affairs. The following winter passed quickly enough ; for we 
were employed in preparing for the journey, and in joyful 
anticipation of it. 

When the spring arrived we were nearly ready. It was 
by this time generally known that we were about to leave ; 
and our friends called to bid us adieu, and many of the poor 
women, whose better instincts told them our sorrow at leaving 
the society of the Saints was feigned, pressed our hands, and 
with tears expressed the wish to go with us to the land where 
the rights of woman were respected : and where the high and 
the low, were alike governed by written laws, founded in 
right ; and not dependent upon special revelations. 

Could my countrywomen of the United States have listened 
to the moans of these crushed and broken-hearted women, 
could they be made to understand the hopeless despair that 
weighed them down, a despair that sent a shudder even 



348 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

through my frame, who had spent my life among, and had 
suffered with them : could they but for one moment mark the 
effort to crush back into silence the rising sob, and stealthily 
dry the tear, that nevertheless would flow, I am not sure, but 
they would rise in a body, and if there was no other remedy 
for these wrongs against the sex, they would march to their 
relief. They would at least shame the authorities into the 
right. 

About the time we were to set out, a discussion arose in 
certain quarters, which threatened to break up the expedition 
altogether, or, at least to prevent my going with it, and 
nothing but the firmness of my mother, and my assumed 
indifference to the result, averted this disaster. 

Robert Burton, the two Nortons, Mr. Judd, and others of 
this class, mostly D.anites, went to the Prophet to remonstrate 
against my being permitted to leave the valley. They repre- 
sented to him how hazardous it would be to allow one who 
knew what I did of the secret history of the Church, to go 
among the Gentiles, and beyond a "restraining" influence. 
I was at least liable to apostatize ; and there was no knowing 
what I might be led to divulge. I took occasion to see the 
Prophet when I heard of it, and to second their appeal with 
such apparent good faith, that he said, laughingly : he thought 
I could be trusted, and he wished to hear no more about it. 

Some of the Danites became very much excited, and it 
appeared to me with reason, for I thought of the case of pooi 
Dr. Roberts, and Bowman, and many other similar ones, which 
if known to the Government, must make it difficult for some 
of these men to keep their necks safely between their heads 



Hope. 34:9 

and shoulders. Wiley Norton went so far as to say, that if 
the Prophet allowed me to accompany my mother, our party 
would not go far, that we should be followed to the mountains, 
and if the worst came to worst, they would break up the 
expedition. To this my mother replied firmly, that she was 
willing to have the expedition broken up, and now was the 
1>' :er time to do that; but if she went, both her children 
should accompany her. 

Nothing ever came under ray notice during the fifteen years 
of my sojourn among the Mormons, amounting as it has to the 
best part of my life, which so well illustrates the absolute au- 
thority of the Prophet as the discussion growing out of this 
difference of opinion between him and his "Danites." What 
makes it a still stronger case is, that common sense and 
right, estimating right by their standard, were clearly against 
him ; and yet his simple dictum, without reason, was submit- 
ted to by strong full-grown men. 

He was evidently blinded by his overweening greed for 
money, otherwise he would have seen that the mere prospect 
of meeting my husband once more was a good reason why I 
should wish to go anywhere to get away from Utah, and that 
finding him would be a sufficient bar against returning to the 
valley. But it is due to the sagacity of the Prophet that I 
say, I had ample reason afterwards to believe, that my brother- 
in-law, Eichard Cordon, was privately charged with the duty 
of preventing a meeting between myself and husband ; and 
also to apply the antidote so familiar to a Danite, in case I 
should attempt to apostatize or make dangerois develop- 
ments. 



450 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

Everything was now ready except to procure our letter of 
recommendation. The following is a true copy of mine, which 
is still in my possession : — 

{Copy) 

"Great Salt Lake City, Jfay25, 1856. 

To ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I 

" This is to certify, Sister Mary Ettie V. Smith is a wor- 
thy member in the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day 
Saints ; we therefore recommend her to all good people where 
God in his Providence may call her, or where her lot may be 
cast. 

(Signed) " Thomas A. Judd, 

« Clerk? 

My mother and sister had similar ones. 



Going to the Land of my Birth 351 



CHAITER XXXIII. 

OOHO TO THE LAND OF MY BIRTH. 

At one o'clock in the afternoon of May 26, 1856, our little 
party left the city to commence the long and tedious journey, 
over mountains and plains, to the land of our fathers. 

It occurred to us, as we looked back upon the city for the 
last time, that it was a few months over ten years since we had 
followed the Mormon hosts from Nauvoo, slowly and sullenly 
moving towards the setting sun, in pursuit of an asylum from 
Gentile mobs and persecutions ; and we were now fleeing 
back to the east to find a refuge against Mormon cruelty and 
crime. What changes had come over us and over the Church 
since that time ! 

There was the capital of an empire, which the Heads of the 
Church had founded and reared wiihin the short space of ten 
years, and which they and their trusting followers believed to 
be as firm and lasting as the snow-capped mountains by which 
it was shut out from the Gentile world. A new empire grown 
bo strong and confident as already to bid defiance to the Gen- 
eral Government. Was it strange that, before we had shaken 
the dust of the city from off our feet, we looked upon the ris- 
ing capital of this daring and ambitious people, and felt the 



352 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

oppression of a vague fear in view of the future of a sect 
whose short past had been so remarkable? And that we 
asked ourselves with some concern what wonders it might not 
be expected to develop hereafter ? We encamped that night 
at the foot of Little Mountain, a few miles northeast of the 
city. The next morning we commenced the tiresome ascent 
It was a slow and tedious journey of two days to the summit. 
On the night of our first encampment at the foot of Little 
Mountain, the weather had been warm as midsummer. Our 
third encampment was made in the snows upon the mountain- 
top. I had my feet and one of my fingers frozen in getting 
supper that night. We had labored incessantly in making 
the ascent with our ponies and light wagon. Before we reached 
the snow line, we were obliged to unload the wagon, and 
go up empty, and even this was effected with difficulty, as our 
little ponies found the wagon alone a sufficient load. Then 
to return with the ponies, and packing the luggage upon their 
backs, and upon poles fastened to their sides, and trailing 
behind, after the Indian fashion, to drag this up also. We 
were thus scorched and blistered with the heat of the first 
day, and half frozen the third. 

The next morning, we commenced at an early hour the 
descent, and cooked a late breakfast at the foot of the moun- 
tain, in a warm and genial climate. 

Perhaps nothing could better illustrate the character of the 
country, and the usual incidents of travel in it, than an account 
of this beginning of our journey, and its quick changes from 
smiling valleys, green with rich pastures, to the lofty moun 
tain-top, covered with snow. 



Going to the Land of my Birth. 353 

Our route for several days was among the mountains, and 
lay, for the most part, through the narrow canons, which 
form so wild a feature of the country. One of these, I recol- 
lect, was remarkable for its wonderful combination of simple 
beauty and imposing grandeur. For miles, perhaps, the pass 
would be little more than wide enough for the free passage of 
the team ; with a smooth and perpendicular wall of rock rising 
on each side to an immense height, which would glisten far 
above us in the rays of the sun, like polished marble. The mina 
is lost in astonishment in attempting to account for the pecu- 
liar formation of these passes, and is kept continually upon the 
stretch of expectation while travelling through them; sur- 
prised, at each turn of the crooked way, by some new wonder, 
or some more imposing point of view. Perhaps when the 
senses fairly ache with the effort to comprehend the rocky 
labyrinth — when they are ready to droop with exhaustion, they 
are relieved as the way opens suddenly, may be, upon a green 
and narrow plat, where the clear, pure stream, which before 
had fretted and lashed its bright waters into fury by throwing 
itself madly against the rocks from side to side, now gently 
sings a pleasing tale among bright flowers and grassy bor- 
ders. 

In the afternoon of the fifth day, we overtook a family by 
the name of Hunley, who were leaving the Mormons to return 
to a deserted home in Texas. We found them in camp, and 
as our team was somewhat jaded, we concluded to join them. 

As their history was a peculiar one, and serves to illustrate 
Mormonism, I will give it as I received it from them. Mr. 
Hunley was a planter, living in Texas near Galveston, and had 



354 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

married an educated and accomplished young widow, by whom 
he received a large amount of property. She had at this time 
one daughter. After becoming the mother of three other 
children, Mrs. Hunley became a convert to Mormonism, under 
the preaching of a missionary saint, at that time wandering 
through Texas. She was endowed with an earnest and trust- 
ing nature, joined to a strong tendency to enthusiasm ; and 
at once felt it her duty to leave her family, her husband not 
sympathizing with her, and accompany the missionary elder 
to Great Salt Lake city. She therefore set out, upon the 
spur of the moment, with her daughter, then about fourteen 
years of age, leaving the other three children with the hus- 
band, and arrived at the valley, strong in the faith that Brig- 
ham Young was the only true prophet. She had adopted 
Mormonism in good faith, purely from a high religious con- 
viction ; but when once at the valley, she was not long in 
making out the true state of things. She had no sympathy 
with the gross and sensual. When the Prophet understood 
how she had left a devoted husband, for the love she 
bore the true faith, he insisted upon having her " sealed " 
to one of the saints. When it was too late, she made 
the terrible discovery that from the will of the Prophet 
there was no appeal, and she was forced to submit. She, 
however, found means to get word to her husband in Texas, 
as to the state of things, and implored him to come for her. 
Mr. Hunley, who never doubted his wife's integrity, regretting 
only her error, flew at once to her succor. When he arrived, 
Mrs. Hunley, who was after all a shrewd woman, contrived 
some story by which she induced the Prophet to consent to 



Going to the Land o* my Birth. 355 

her leaving the valley with her husband, under a strong 
promise to return. 

He pronounced a terrible curse, which he said should fol- 
low her, in case she apostatized. She did not tell me what 
the Prophet expected her to accomplish, but it was something 
connected with her husband's property, as I suppose. 

She had with her a young child, the fruit of her Mormon 
marriage. Mr. Hunley was fond of his wife, and appeared 
glad to regain her; but he would take no notice of the 
child. 

They left the valley, but a few days before us. There were 
several other families at the valley who had joined the Mor- 
mons from the neighborhood of Galveston, some of whom 
were less successful in making a safe retreat. Some of these 
families had been there several years, and were all very 
wealthy. One of them named Grier owned near Galveston 
large possessions in land, most of which he had sold, taking 
the proceeds with him to the valley. 

Old Mr. Grier had five sons if I recollect right, and one 
daughter, and took all with him ; but dying on the plains, he 
never saw the new Zion himself. His wife and six children, 
arrived in tne valley in due time ; and on account of their 
great wealth were graciously received by the Prophet. He 
required first a tenth of all they had, which amounted to a 
large sum, and the next spring required them to "consecrate" 
the balance. To this they objected, and they were soon 
involved in difficulty with the Heads of the Church, and 
beijan openly to express a wish to return to Texas. 

This was the signal for the faithful to pounce upon them. 



356 Fifteen Years among the Mormons, 

Their great wealth made them a conspicuous mark. When 
they went to drive up their cattle and mules, they found the 
Church mark upon them : and thus they were lost, for that 
consecrated them to sacred purposes ; and no one could ques- 
tion that mark, or how it came there. They were harassed 
in every possible manner, and finally they attempted to get 
together what cattle and mules they had left, with the view of 
leaving the valley ; but at night they were scattered agaiQ 
by the " Danites." The more effort the five brothers made 
to get away with their property, the less they had to take 
away, and the chances of escape lessened, in the same propor- 
tion. They had a great amount of money when they came, 
which had been loaned to different members of the Church. 
But wishing to collect it again, the Prophet absolved the 
debtors from payment. Thus the more they resisted, the 
more they became involved in difficulty. 

The daughter had married a Mr. Johnson before leaving 
Texas, who had joined his fortunes with that of the Griers, and 
was now involved in their embarrassments. They had a large 
store of goods at Salt Lake city, which they sold to a Mor- 
mon at a great sacrifice, and were making great efforts to 
leave the valley in company with Mr. Hunley. The Griers 
found it impossible to do so ; for besides having their mules 
and cattle scattered and spirited away whenever they attempt- 
ed to collect them for the journey, they were involved in law- 
suits, which threatened not only to absorb what property they 
had left, but to detain them indefinitely. 

Things were in this state when Hunley left the city; and 
Johnson, seeing the Griers were not likely to get away soon 



Going to the Land of my Birth. $5? 

quietly arranged his affairs to accompany the former. Taking 
only those things most needed, and the items of his large pro- 
perty least likely to excite notice, and his wife, he set out, hop- 
ing to overtake Hunley. 

We all remained in camp the next day. As for us, we 
were glad to give the ponies a rest, and at the same time, to 
keep in the company of Hunley ; but we afterwards learned, 
that his object was to give Johnson time to join him, about 
whom he was very anxious. As Johnson's party did not come 
up with us, we went on the next morning. 

Nothing of importance occurred to us during that day, and 
we went into camp at night, without hearing from Johnson. 
The next day, sometime after noon, we arrived at Webber 
river ; and were greatly disappointed in finding it at full 
banks, and impassable, except by means of rafts. My bro- 
ther-in-law and Hunley, assisted by the two men the latter 
had with him, at once set to work to construct one, by which 
they hoped to cross. 

Towards night we saw two women on horseback approach- 
ing the carup, attended by an Indian boy. They looked 
fatigued and disheartened, and their clothing was torn and 
soiled. When they came up, they were at once recognized by 
the Hunleys. One was Mrs. Johnson, and the other a Mrs. Dana. 
The latter it appears had joined Mrs. Johnson's party, when 
on the eve of quitting the city. Her husband was a Mormon 
elder, then on a mission to England, and during his absence, 
she had made some new discoveries, which disgusted her with 
the Church, and she attempted to make her escape with her 
two children ; but she was forced by the Mormons to leave 



358 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

them at the valley ; and she was now inconsolable at tteii 
loss. She was always crying while with us, and did nothing 
but mourn for them. Hers was but one of the many sad and 
cruel cases of injustice and wrong, that claimed our sympa- 
thy on the way. 

All were anxious to hear Mrs. Johnson's story — and she 
gratified the company at once — it was as follows : 

She said, " we had a terrible time in getting out of the 
city, 'and when once upon the way, we were dogged by the 
" Danites," until we lost everything but two wagons, and the 
horses and property belonging to them ; and a few spare 
mules and ponies. They were bent upon killing Mr. Johnson, 
and he thought it best to leave us, in order to avoid them,* 
and take another route over the mountains, hoping to meet us 
again at, or beyond Fort Bridger. 

Accordingly, taking one of the mules, he set off alone, and 
that is the last we have seen of him. But I am anxious to get 
3n, to find him. After he had gone, the "Danites," made 
another attack ; but not finding Mr. Johnson, they contented 
themselves with using only threats, and then left us. They 
evidently came with the intention of killing my husband ; 
but luckily his absence saved him. We were greatly fright- 
ened, and when they were out of sight, our men advised us to 
get upon the ponies, and come on and try to overtake you with 
the other families, known to be somewhere ahead. I told the 
men I dare not attempt that, as I was unacquainted with the 
way. Whereupon our Indian boy said he had been upon this 
road many times before he was sold to the Mormons ; and he 
recollected the way. We therefore started with my Indian 



Going to the Land of my Birth. 359 

slave as guide, who has led us by one of his Indian trails, 
unknown even to the " Danites," over the mountains and 
through the bushes, and here we are with our dresses nearly 
torn from our backs." 

We all sympathized with the new comers, and after listen- 
ing with interest to their story, and while the men were in 
the meantime busily engaged in arranging the raft to cross 
the river, we employed ourselves in rendering them what 
assistance we could. 

As for me, I was happy to interest myself in others' 
woes, rather than my own. From t what Wiley Norton had 
said to us before leaving, we had expected the "Danites," 
would have followed us. But having escaped thus far, we 
felt at ease, thinking that as they had so many others to pur- 
sue, they had either overlooked us altogether, or had con- 
cluded to obey the Prophet's " counsel," in relation to us. 



660 Fifteen Yeaes among the Mormons. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

i 

CROSSING THE WEBBER PERILS BY THE WAY. 

Before the raft was finished, a party of men with three 
wagons and several mules, appeared upon the other side of 
the river, having in charge the U. S. mail going to great Salt 
Lake city. 

When every thing was ready, one of these men, named 
Mitch el, swam a mule to our side, with some ropes, which 
were tied to the raft ; and then returning, he drew it over, 
loaded with Mr. Hunley's wagon, safely. He then returned 
with the rope to our side, and the raft was drawn back, with 
a part of the U. S. mail, which was also safely landed, and 
our wagon, with all the property belonging to us except the 
ponies, was taken back with it, in good order. The balance 
of the mail was now placed upon the raft, and several men 
with it, and it set out for another voyage to our shore. But 
when in the middle of the stream the ropes broke, and the 
raft, with its valuable freight, went rushing down the stream, 
borne by the mad current at a bounding speed, and was 
quickly out of sight. The men had the presence of mind to 
throw what they could of the mail bags ashore, as the raft 



xiOSSING THE WEBBER — PERILS BY THE "WAY. 361 

passed near the land at a sharp turn of the river just below u& ; 
and in this way, a part of them were saved ; but most of 
the bags went down. The men saved themselves with diffi- 
culty by swimming. 

We had been in high spirits until now, as we had expected 
to get over that night. All our provisions and bed-clothing 
were on the other side of the river, while the men, women, 
and children, of both parties, were on our side. Over twenty 
persons in all, with nothing to eat, and many, with but little 
to wear. One of the men from the other side, had put on 
linen pantaloons for greater convenience in working about 
the raft; but when the night set in he felt terribly the want 
of warm clothing. The day had been warm, but the cold 
winds came down from the mountains in chilling blasts, 
and we all suffered immensely ; but this man especially was 
nearly frozen before morning. 

The men gathered what fuel they could and # built a fire, 
about which we crowded to make ourselves as comfortable as 
possible ; but all wanted food. Finally, my brother-in-law, 
Cordon, took a mule and swam the river, and returned with 
some crackers and tea, and two bed-covers, which were shared 
with the company. This was a but a meagre supply, but it 
was all we had. 

It was a long weary night for most of the company ; but the 
morning came at last, and then Mitchel swam his grey mule 
over the river again, and brought back some bread and coffee, 
and other articles in such abundance, that we all made a very 
comfortable breakfast. 

Then the question arose how wo were to make the passage 

16 



362 Fifteen Tears among the Mormons. 

of the river. It was decided, after much discussion, that one 
of the men should go over with the mule belonging to 
Mitchel, which by this time had become quite the hero of 
our party, and cork one of the wagon boxes, to be used as a 
boat. This was accomplished with such success, that aftei 
running it over and back, loaded with harness, and whatevei 
loose property there was left, a call was made for volunteei 
passengers, but none were willing to risk the frail bark. 

Thinking it would be as well to drown in the attempt to 
cross, as to remain with the prospect of starving, for we had 
already devoured what had been brought over, I offered tc 
go for one, and Mrs. Hunley for another ; but no more of the 
women dared to venture, and the boat, such as it was, was 
pulled off by the men having hold of the rope on the 
opposite side, and the next moment our fortunes were cast 
upon the angry current. 

We had with us one man, who baled incessantly to keep 
the wagon box from sinking, and yet the water gained upon 
him. We watched with untold interest, the water slowly 
rising inside the box and the opposite shore which we were 
approaching slowly. 

The problem was a very simple one, and it was this* 
whether our boat could reach the opposite shore sooner than 
the water could reach the top of the box, and the chancer 
appeared to be evenly balanced for a time. We gained upon 
the shore, and the man, encouraged by us, redoubled hi? 
efforts; but the water was gaining also ; and now the sceno 
became to us one of the most absorbing interest. The box 
was nearly full, and *he man looked up from his work as if 



Crossing the Webber — Perils by the Way. 363 

he thought we were really past hope. Then the men on 
shore gave a strong pull at the rope, and for a moment we 
flew towards the land, and the next, the box went under 
But it was fortunately too near the shore to sink far, and we 
held on the sides with the strong current rushing against us, 
until the men pulled us to the land, with no further damage 
than getting thoroughly wet. They had built a large fire, 
around which blankets were hung, where we dried our cloth- 
ing, and were soon comfortable again ; gratefully acknow- 
ledging our narrow escape. 

The wagon box was so much swelled, by this time, that it 
leaked less and less, and Alice Hunley and my mother and 
sister were next drawn over with safety, although the rude 
boat was nearly full of water before it struck the shore. Then 
Mrs. Johnson and Dana, with a Mrs. Coward, another fugitive 
from Mormonism, who had arrived at the crossing since day- 
light, were taken over. 

The ponies and mules were after this turned into the river, 
and it was a novel spectacle to see them with their heads just 
out of water, moving faster down the stream than they did 
across it, swim to our side. But they all came in at last, 
though at some distance below. 

When all were over, preparations were made to resume the 
march — to encounter perhaps new dangers. Mrs. Johnson, 
now that the perils of crossing an angry river were passed 
without harm, became anxious again about her husband. He 
had left word that she must not expect to meet him until the 
party arrived at Fort Bridger ; but unable to brook the delay 
of travelling so slow with the teams, she took the pony and 



364 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

the Indian boy as guide, and providing herself with some 
crackers and matches, a blanket, and rope to tie the horse, she 
set out in search of him the next morning, though remon- 
strated with by all the company. It was in vain they repre- 
sented how dangerous the undertaking would be that it 

was little short of madness she bravely galloped away to 

£nd a husband on whose track, perhaps even now, the 
w Danites" were prowling, anxious to shed his blood. . 

We heard nothing more from either of them until in the 
afternoon of the following day, when we met Mr. Johnson 
coming back to learn, if possible, what had been the fate of 
his party. He had seen nothing of his wife. 

Successful in eluding the " Danites," he had arrived safely at 
Fort Bridger; but unable to restrain his anxiety, had returned 
through a by-way to seek his wnfe, who had gone to seek 
him by the regular road ; and they had thus missed each 
other. But, sick and fatigued with long travel, watchfulness 
and exposure among the mountains, he thought it best to 
remain with the teams, believing Mrs. Johnson had gone on 
to the fort, where he would be likely to find her. In fact he 
was already too sick to ride on horseback. 

He had not been with us long before a man was seen com- 
ing down the road, who was soon recognized as Lewis Rob- 
inson the keeper of the fort, which was occupied, I believe, 
only by himself and family. Robinson was a Mormon, and 
Mr. Johnson thought it singular that he should follow him 
from the fort, for he had been allowed to depart from it in 
peace that morning. He therefore secreted himself in one of 
the wagons, hoping to escape his notice ; not knowing what 



Crossing the Webber — Perils by the Way. 365 

he might want. It was not impossible but some of the 
" Danites " had arrived at the fort since he had left it ; and if 
so, he was certainly not very safe. It was with the greatest 
anxiety that he listened as Robinson came up, for his first 
inquiry, expecting it would be for him ; and then he imagined 
his wife to be already in the hands of the " Danites." In fact 
he nearly gave himself up as lost ; but he was at once relieved 
when he found that Robinson not only asked no questions 
about him, but in reply to the anxious inquiry of Mrs. Hunley, 
informed her that Mrs. Johnson was at the fort, safe, and wait- 
ing for her party to come up. Robinson was about to pass 
without further delay; but as he came near our wagon 
Richard Cordon said to him, in a tone that proved how 
much his heart was in the ugly deed, " I say, Robinson, do 
you know Johnson is in one of these wagons, and that our 
boys are after him V 9 

Robinson looked at Cordon, surprised at first, and after a 
moment of hesitation his face wore an expression of contempt, 
then laughing, he said : " Oh, I don't care ; I am not on that 
mission to-day." And, as if as anxious to escape from us, as 
we were to flee from the " Danites," he went his way. 

Covered with chagrin and mortification, Cordon for some 
time stood looking after the generous man, who had so nobly 
scorned to do a mean action, and I took care not to lessen his 
embarrassment by any very gentle notice of his cowardly aim. 

From this time, I watched him closely, and had reason 
afterwards to distrust him still more, as to myself. 

The next day we arrived at Fort Bridger, where we found 
Mis. Johnson — and we all shared in the joy of her meeting 



366 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

with the husband for whom she had shown such heroic devo- 
tion. It was a scene of touching tenderness worthy the suc- 
cess her unselfishness had won. She was too much occupied 
with her new joy to gratify our numerous questions, but still 
clinging to her husband as if fearful of losing him again. 
She modestly stated, as if there was nothing remarkable in it, 
that after leaving us, she had pursued her way with what 
speed she could until dark, and then finding the ponies must 
have rest, and that it was too dark to keep the road with ease, 
she picketed the animals, and building a fire, remained in the 
canon until morning, comforting herself with the reflection 
that perhaps Mr. Johnson was not far off, and possibly he 
might be attracted by the light of the fire before morning, and 
come to her. 

She said the wind blew cold as the snows that overhung the 
canon from whence it came ; but daylight appeared at last, 
and then she hastened on, and arrived at the fort, only to find 
Mr. Johnson had returned to look for her. 

Fort Bridger was to me an object of great interest, as I had 
often heard the story, which associated with it the fortunes of 
a man whose name it still bears, told by some of the men who 
were actors in the wild adventures connected with his disap- 
pearance. This interest was not lessened, perhaps, by the 
mystery that still hangs over it ; for the real fate of the dar- 
ing man who first built the fort is even yet unknown — like a 
thousand others who have gone down before the fiat of the 
relentless Prophet among the lonely passes of the mountains 
of Utah. 

This is not properly a fort, but several adobe buildings ar- 



Crossing the Webber — Perils by the Way. 367 

ranged for the purpose of defence. They were built, and long 
occupied by a Mr. Bridger, a man of whose early history I have 
never heard much. He had a family, and was well provided, it 
is said, with retainers, and stores of arms, and ammunition, and 
at length became powerful. He was not a Mormon ; but was, 
at one time, on good terms with the Church. But in an evil 
hour, he incurred the displeasure of the Prophet from some 
cause not generally known. The matter created great excite- 
ment at the time, and an expedition was long talked of to 
bring him to terms. I recollect the matter well ; but nothing 
more was said about it than necessary ; and this is the reason 
why much of the transaction is still shrouded in the same 
secrecy. 

When the dispute came to the worst, an expedition was 
fitted out from the city to take the fort, with orders to bring 
back Bridger a prisoner. The city was in a high state of ex- 
citement for several weeks, and in constant expection of the 
arrival of the captive. I knew many of the men who were 
members of this party ; and I heard James Ferguson, Hiram 
Norton, and Wiley Norton, and Andrew Cunningham, and 
many others, relate all they were at liberty to tell of it, after 
they returned. 

The party, with Andrew Cunningham in command, arrived 
at the fort, and found Bridger gone. But his wife was there, 
living quietly as usual. She knew nothing of her husband. 
Cunningham judged rightly, as it afterwards proved, that 
Bridger was concealed in the mountains not far off, and 
that he must either return occasionally to the fort for food, or 
that those at the fort must communicate with him for this 
purpose. 



368 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

He therefore withdrew his party, professedly with a view 
of giving up the enterprise, and returning to the city ; but 
afterwards came back with a number of his men, and sta- 
tioned them in secure positions, from which strict watch 
could be kept upon the movements at the fort. The measure 
was well taken ; but Bridger was not easily decoyed, and it took 
an experienced ranger of the mountains to mislead him, or to 
conceal the signs of what was passing from his practised 
eye. It proved therefore to be a long siege. Many weeks 
passed, and no trace of Bridger was found ; but the faith of 
the Mormon leader was strong, and he was content to abid6 
his time — and he redoubled his watchfulness. 

The wife was at last detected in holding communication 
wifh the proscribed man, no sign of whose whereabouts had 
before been discovered. It was a short work to make out his 
hiding-place after that. What was his fate, or that of his 
family, none but the few " Danites," who were engaged in that 
"mission," can tell; and for some reason, the same men who 
had spoken freely to me of other crimes, were silent upon this 
point. When asked what became of him, they did not know. 
A large amount of property was taken from the fort to the 
city, among which were arms, and powder, and lead. 

These circumstances made a deep impression upon my 
mind at the time ; but with the great mass of the Church, 
other and newer excitements took their place ; and now the 
fate of Bridger is seldom mentioned. But there are those 
in Utah who will still shud.ler at the mention of his fate ; and 
though it would be unsafe to question thus anything " ordained n 
of the Prophet, yet many of these still hope to see the time 



Crossing- the Webber — Perils by the Wal 3G9 

when the mystery, of which Fort Bridger now stands the dark 
and frowning monument, shall be unsealed through an inves- 
tigation by Governmental authority. Shall this day ever 
come? 

Not wishing to attract unnecessary notice, we made but a 
short halt at the fort, but drove on several miles that night 
before going into camp. This was the first time since leaving 
Salt Lake we had felt anything like security. Our party had 
now swelled to a large and promiscuous companv of Gentile 
merchants and adventurers, and Mormon fugitives; and if 
the Danites had not already given up the pursuit of Johnson 
or others of the party, we thought they would hardly think of 
attacking us ; for if our numbers did not deter them, the pre- 
sence of those having the United States mail would at least 
have that tendency. From motives of policy, these carriers 
had always been respected, as far as was then known. 

A. few days of easy travel, undistinguished by any event of 
importance, brought us to Green River, which we crossed 
without difficulty by a convenient ferry. 

At this point our Texas friends left us. They took the 
Cherokee trail for home, and we knew nothing more of their 
fate, but presumed they arrived safely at Galveston, a success 
they had well deserved. 

I regarded the escape of Mr. Johnson and his wife the most 
remarkable of any that came under my notice while at the 
valley. To attempt an escape when the Danites are in pur 
suit is like disputing the decrees of fate. 



lf>* 



370 Fifteen Years among ihk Mormons. 



j 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

CROSSING THE PLAINS. 

Nearly the whole route from Great Salt Lake city thug 
far had been associated in my mind with sad reminiscences 
similar to that of Fort Bridger, most of which I have neces- 
sarily neglected to mention. Several of these were connected 
with the Green River Ferry, one of which, the case of Mrs. 
Hartley, I have already referred to in a former chapter. 
Another case now occurs to me, an account of which I re- 
ceived from Richard Cordon, and others who were concerned 
in it. 

It would seem that some years before this, an American, 
known as Big Bill, had erected a ferry at this point. What 
his real name was, if I ever knew, I have now forgotten. The 
Mormons had one here also, and from motives of interest 
growing out of the ferry, or from other causes, they wished 
Big Bill, who was a Gentile, to transfer his interest in the 
place to them. Whether they could not agree upon the 
terms, or whether Big Bill had offended the Heads of the 
Church in some other way, I never knew. At all events, a 
party was sent by the Prophet, under the command of Robert 
Burton, to bring him in a prisoner. The pretence under which 



Crossing the Plains. 371 

de was to be arrested, I think, was in some way founded upon 
a refusal to accept from the Prophet, who claimed jumdic- 
tion over the matter as the civil Governor of the territory, 
a license to keep a ferry there. Big Bill not only denied the 
jurisdiction, but claimed that the fee fixed by the Prophet was 
unequal and exorbitant ; and that it discriminated to his dis- 
advantage in favor of the other ferry. 

He was a bold and daring man, of great size ; trained to 
the free life of the plains, and young in years, though pro- 
bably not aware of the kind of foes he had to deal with, and 
still less accustomed to submit to oppression. Hence when 
the Mormons came to arrest him, he positively refused tc 
accompany them, but resisted the arrest. 

Burton gave him no time for reflection, but ordered his 
men to fire at once, and he fell mortally wounded upon his 
own premises. Big Bill had evidently not anticipated things 
were to be pushed to this extreme ; otherwise the Mormons 
would have found him a dangerous foe, on account of his 
great strength and experience in border warfare. Though 
crippled by his wounds, and unable to rise, he was still alive, 
and it was considered unsafe to approach too near the strug- 
gling giant, and the men fired into his breast while he lay 
upon the ground till he was dead. I have heard those who 
shared in this cowardly act, describe it. One of them was 
Richard Cordon. But why multiply cases of this kind 
Human nature revolts even at the recital of them ; and yet 
^every corner of Utah is stained by the innocent blood of these 
victims. 

When we were again upon the way, we found ourselves 



372 Fifteen Years among thp. Mormons. 

nearly alone, accompanied only by a merchant from Weston 
Mo, named Gilbert, with a clerk in his employ, whose 
name was Henry Blood. They were returning from the 
valley, where they had been with a stock of goods. They 
had a man to look after and pack the mules, and these three 
men with Kichard Cordon, now constituted the male force of 
our party, with which we were to cross the Indian country 
and that too when the savages were understood to be uncom- 
monly hostile. 

As I kept no memoranda of our journey home, I am 
obliged to trust mostly to recollection for the principal events, 
and I shall not attempt to be accurate as to time and dis- 
tances, and indeed I do not propose to give a detailed account 
of it; but shall seize only upon the most notable events of 
what remains to be told of this narrative ; already grown to 
a bulk much beyond the original design. 

We travelled many days with nothing unusual to break 
the monotony of the journey, until we arrived at the South 
Pass. After this the Indian signs were more numerous and 
threatening. Several of the tribes were at war with each 
other, as we soon learned, and they thus had but little time to 
devote to emigrants ; but more than one party had been cut 
off, as all were liable to be when unprotected. We travelled 
in constant "ear of them by day, and at night we built no fires, 
not wishing to attract their attention. 

Our load was very heavy for the small ponies over the 
sandy roads, and through the day, all except mother walked 
most of the time ; but during the long drives after dark, often 
continued deep into the night, to reach safe camping grounds 



Crossing the Plains. 373 

convenient to water and pasture, my sister Lizzie was obliged 
to ri Je, in order to hush her child and keep it still ; for at 
these hours stray Indian bands were likely to be prowling 
along the trail to pick up defenceless parties like ours. 

Mr. Gilbert one day rode up to us as we were seated upon 
the ground, to rest the team and ourselves, and said, " Mrs. 
Smith, I notice you do not ride much. Is your wagon heavily 
loaded ?" 

" It is," said I, " and our ponies are light." 

" Let me see," said he, " you had better ride one of my 
ponies ; you shall do so in welcome if you think you can." 

I was very much fatigued, and had answered him with 
indifference until he said this. I then rose and said to him 
with animation, " I shall be but too happy to try ; I have been 
accustomed to ride Indian ponies all my life, and I would 
just now dare to attempt anything to avoid travelling these 
sand hills, and over these plains on foot." 

The pony of which he spoke, was one he had bought of the 
Snake Indians, and was one of the most vicious and restive of 
its kind. Mr. Gilbert was leading it by a small cord beside 
the. one he was riding, and I went to the wagon and took a 
Spanish saddle which Eichard Cordon had there, and put it 
upon its back. I was so intent upon the one idea of riding, 
that it did not occur to me that the pony had no bridle on, 
and no sooner was the girth of the saddle securely fastened, 
than with an easy spring I took my seat in it, and the next 
moment we were careering over the plains at the top of pony 
speed. We were under motion, before the full state of the 
case flashed across my mind. I was upon the back of a 



&[4- Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

loose and half-tamed pony, upon the verge of a boundless 
stretch of prairie and sand hills, with no bridle to guide or 
control the animal. 

This part of the country was often frequented by the Snakes, 
the tribe from which the pony had been purchased, and pos- 
sibly we were not far from one of their villages now ; and 
if so and should the pony chance to remember it, which it 
was very likely to do, it would not be long in taking me 
there. 

This was about the middle of the afternoon, and Blood had 
gone forward with Gilbert's man, to look out a camping 
ground for the night, and the pony took their trail.- But 
there was no certainty as to how long this would continue, 
for the instincts and recollections of these animals*are strong, 
and my prospects were good for a swift ride to the nearest 
Indian camp. 

During the first mile my spirits rose fully equal to the oc- 
casion. Holding easly to the pummel of the saddle, with my 
hair, which the first bound of the pony had unloosed, stream- 
ing wildly back, and my dress fluttering in the wind, I felt 
the inspiration of an untrammeled ranger of the plains, and 
for the first time since leaving the land of the " Saints," did 
I appreciate the sweet joy of freedom lately won. But reflec- 
tion soon succeeded. Looking back, I noticed we were 
already nearly out o^ sight of the wagon ; while Gilbert was 
a long way off in pursuit, but instead of gaining upon me he 
was fast falling behind. 

I took but little time to calculate the chances. Gathering 
up my skirts to free them from the darger of entanglement, 



Crossing the Plains. 875 

then waiting for a favorable show of sand on which to cast 
my fortune, I vaulted lightly from the saddle and went rolling 
and spinning rough and tumble along the ground, until the 
velocity I held in common with the pony was broken. I arose 
unhurt, although somewhat disordered and soiled in dress. 

When sufficiently collected to look about myself, I found 
the pony standing near me, apparently much astonished at what 
had happened. Mr. Gilbert soon came up, and by means of 
a lasso secured it. Waiting till the wagon arrived, Richard 
gave me a bridle for the animal, and I then remounted, secure 
in being able to guide it, and I had a delightful ride the re- 
mainder of the afternoon in company with Mr. Gilbert. We 
rode a long way in advance of the wagon, expecting each 
moment to overtake the men who were seeking a camp-ground, 
but at length the night closed in upon us, and we saw no 
signs of them. 

The sky now began to thicken overhead, and the mutter- 
ing of distant thunder, with flashes of lightning from the 
southwest, indicated rain. I had been so long unaccus- 
tomed to riding on horseback, that I began to tire of the 
unwonted luxury. With a headache that was every mo- 
ment increasing, I was scarcely able to keep the saddle, 
while Mr. Gilbert, who wished to get into camp before the 
rain came on, urged the necessity of riding faster. This I was 
unable to do, and I asked him to ride on to find the camp, 
and leave me to sit down by the trail till the wagon came up. 
But as he was generous and manly, he at first declined. He 
said we were liable to stumble at any moment upon a band of 
Indians, and he could not think of leaving me, a woman, thus 



376 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

exposed upon the open prairie at night. But I insisted upor 
his doing so, as I should be less liable to attract attention 
thus, than with company ; and if anything happened, 1 
would mount my ponv and fly, or hide in the grass as I 
thought best. He therefore went on, but handed me his re- 
volver before he left, saying ; " You had better take this, as 
you may find occasion to use it. 

When he rode away, my pony was inclined to follow ; and 
instead of being at liberty to crouch quietly down by the 
trail until the wagon overtook me, I now found myself en- 
gaged in a fierce contest with the vicious animal to prevent it 
from leaving me. I held him firmly by the bit, while, by 
rearing upon his hind feet, and plunging from side to side, and 
shaking its impudent little head, it was nearly successful in it. 
Then, to make the matter worse, and almost desperate, it 
commenced to rain. The thunder had slowly increased in 
nearness, until now it bellowed directly overhead, and rolled 
in wild volleys, rumbling and clattering away off upon the wide 
prairies, and as if there met by an opposing wave of sound, it 
was forced, with a deafening roar, back again, just in time to 
meet other similar ones from the four quarters, to surge in 
broken bowlings, about the struggling pony and myself, as a 
centre. But if the thunder was terrific, the quick succession 
of light that flashed from the sky, and broke in jets of fire along 
the plains, was appalling. Blinded one moment by the fierce 
lightning, and the next, stunned by the thick darkness, and 
deluged by the rain, awed and subdued by the crash and the 
strife of the terrible forces that tore among the maddened ele- 
ments, the pony and myself, as if impelled by a mutual svm 



Grossing the Plains. 377 

pathy, gave ovei our puny strife, and looked with astonish- 
ment upon the sublime and awful drama. 

The sagacious animal, with ears pointed and head erect, and 
nostrils distended, with eyes that reflected back the fire from 
the clouds, surveyed the storm from every point of the com- 
pass ; and when satisfied, and after repeating a wild snort at 
each fresh volley of the thunder, nestled close by my side, 
with apparently no wish to leave me ; and as the uproar be 
gan to subside, turned his face from the storm, and was quiet 
aorain. 

o 

At length the storm passed away, leaving me thoroughly 
drenched and chilled. I cannot tell how long I shivered be- 
side the pony, waiting and listening for the wagon. It was 
something after ten o'clock, that while looking carefully into 
the darkness on every side, I discovered a single light a great 
way off in the direction we were travelling. It was faint at 
first, but soon increased in brightness, and gave me great un- 
easiness ; for as we were cot in the habit of indulging our- 
selves in the luxury of camp-fires at night, I was certain 
this could not. be the work of our party; and hence it 
must be that of the Indians, who, I imagined, had discovered 
and massacred Mr. Gilbert and his men, and had now built 
this fire to decoy us to a similar fate. I was still revolving 
in my mind the probabilities of the case, when the welcome 
sound of wheels slowly trundling along the trail gave me new 
hope ; and soon after, Richard drove up, with my mother and 
sister, and were saluted by the pony with a sudden snort, 
which brought the party to a stand. I was not long in mak- 
ing myself known, and found them as much alarmed about 



378 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

the light as myself. We all came to the conclusion, after ex- 
changing views upon the subject, that escape was impossible, 
and that probably our trail had been dogged during the day 
by the Indians with the design of cutting us oft' at night. 

It was suggested to Richard that it would be as well to 
know the worst state of the case at once ; and proposed he 
should take the pony, and go as near the fire as possible, and 
see what we had to expect. To this he consented, and when 
he rode away into the darkness, we had but small hope of 
seeing him again. " God help my child, if he does not come 
back," said Lizzie, as she strained the sleeping infant to her 
anxious breast. 

I got into the wagon and held the reins, and we waited 
with what patience we could for the result. We were at least 
two miles from the light, and some time must necessarily 
elapse before he could accomplish that distance and return. 
We waited a long while, and heard nothing of him. I held 
the lines in one hand, and the revolver in the other, deter- 
mined, if we were molested, to make the most of what means 
of defence we had at hand. 

We grew every moment more anxious, and were about to 
yield ourselves up to despair, when a slight noise was heard in 
the grass near us. It was like the soft step of a moccasined 
foot ; and we could well imagine it to be the stealthy tread 
of an Indian. We were sensible that it came towards us, and 
vet so intense was the darkness of the night, that we found it 
impossible to recognize each other, and much less could we 
make out the cause of our alarm. 

We held a whispered consultation ; but were quite at a loss 



Crossing the Plains. 379 

t( know what course to take. Lizzie said she knew it was an 
InJian, and mother added, "We shall all lose our scalps, if 
it is." 

We all felt our case to be desperate. As for myself, I 
thought this to be but a fitting termination of the extraordin 
ary adventures of the day ; but the reflection of a moment, 
convinced me there was no time to indulge in childish fears. 
Giving the lines to Lizzie, I prepared myself for whatever 
might come ; and getting the revolver ready, and in hand, 
waited the result, with such calmness and self-possession as I 
had in command. Mother said, in a low whisper, "Perhaps 
it may be Richard." 

" No," replied Lizzie, " it is an Indian, and you must be 
certain and kill him the first fire, or we are lost." 

"What good will it do?" said my mother, whose strong 
good sense never forsook her, even under excitement. " For 
if there is one Indian, there may be twenty, and you cannot 
expect to kill them all." 

But I had made up my mind what to do. The object of 
our alarm was now so near, that although I was unable to see 
it, I judged it would not be difficult to send a ball through the 
miscreant, as I could mark with certainty the direction ; and 
drawing the revolver to a rest across my left hand, I was 
about to pull upon it steadily, and, as I believed, calmly, with 
the intention of firing, when the stillness of the night was 
broken by the gruff voice of Richard, saying, in a petulant 
tone, " There, cuss the fools, I met them coming back to meet 
us, before I reached the fire." 

"Richard!" exclaimed Lizzie and my mother at the same 
breath. 



380 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

I lowered the muzzle of the revolver, and dizzy with the 
leaction which followed the sudden relaxation of my over- 
strained spirit, I said, choking with disgust and emotion : 

" Richard, your folly had nearly cost you your life. Why 
did you come up so still ?" 

" How did I know but you were all dead, and the wagon 
was in the possession of the Indians ?" said he, heartlessly. 

The coward had evidently chosen to frighten us, rather than 
take the precaution to investigate the state of the case, which 
he could have done with safety to himself, and without harm 
to us. 

After overcoming in a measure the excitement, we began to 
comprehend the cause of the fire, which Richard said had been 
built by Gilbert's men, while the former was absent to picket 
the horses in some fine grass he had discovered by a stream 
not far from the camp. "They wished me to tell you," he 
added, " they are very sorry for having frightened you ; and 
they have made some coffee, and prepared a good supper, 
which is now waiting for you." 

We were not long in arriving at the camp ; and after 
farming our chilled and stiffened limbs, and accepting cheer- 
fully the apologies of the two men who had built the fire, we 
had an excellent supper, which we all enjoyed with great 
relish. 

It was after midnight before the fire was put out, and we 
were asleep. The day had been one of unusual adventure 
and peril, but its close had left us pleased and satisfied, and 
nothing short of a genuine alarm of Indians could have dis- 
turbed oui heavy slumbers for the remainder of the night. 



Crossing the Plains. 381 

I have th»*s given in detail the events of this 0Le day, not 
o'Jy because they were remarkable in themselves, but as I 
have before intimated, because I do not propose to detain the 
reader with a minute account of this journey ; and since it so 
happened that many of the marked features of it were thus 
crowded into a single day, this may perhaps serve as a gene- 
ral index to our life upon the plains. 

The next morning found us unharmed, and the march was 
resumed with the more courage, as w r e were now nearing 
Fort Laramie. Two days before arriving there, Mr. Gilbert 
left us, as he wished to push on at a greater speed than was 
within the power of our ponies to accomplish. We were now 
so near the fort that we had little to fear from the Indians, 
and we parted from him with emotions of deepest gratitude, 
for the protection the presence of his party had afforded 
us. 

I take pleasure in saying of Mr. Gilbert, that he ap- 
peared to be a kindly and honorable gentleman, inclined to 
noble and generous impulses. 

After making two encampments alone, we arrived safely at 
Laramie, where we found Lieutenant Foot, and several other 
officers of the army, who with their wives had boarded with 
my brother Howard at Fort Kearny several years before this ; 
and we were received with great kindness by them on. that 
account. 

These ladies greatly commended us for leaving the Mor- 
mons, and took it for granted we were not to return to the 
valley. As for my mother and myself, we had tut little to 



382 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

say upon the subject. We were yet too far from the borders 
of civilization to feel ourselves safe ; and moreover we had 
learned to distrust Richard too much to confide to him oui 
real intentions, and we were still in his hands. 



Conclusion. 383 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



CONCLUSION. 



We had been at Laramie I think two days, when an 
express came in from Fort Kearny, asking for a few soldiers; 
and giving the information that several emigrant trains had 
been cut off, between that and Laramie; and that the Indians 
were out upon the trail in force. This was very discourag- 
ing news for us. The army officers advised Richard by no 
means to attempt to make the journey alone, but to wait, and 
join if he could some party going to Kearny, sufficiently 
strong to afford us protection. 

Notwithstanding we had expected some delay from this 
state of things, it soon transpired that a company of Govern- 
ment wagons employed in drawing corn from Kearny to 
Laramie, was to return to the former place the next after- 
noon. 

A party of U. S. soldiers was to leave also for the same 
place the next morning, in answer to the summons by express, 
but these last w T ould move too fast for us, and we were recom- 
mended to join the wagons, as that party was sufficiently 
btrong to ensure our safety. 



384: Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

The wagon master was a grey-headed old man from Wes- 
ton, Mo., with whom the officers kindly used their influence in 
our behalf, which proved to be of great service to us after- 
wards. His name was Samuel Foster, and he rendered us all 
the assistance needed. 

This party, which we joined next morning, moved but 
slowly, and we were thus enabled to camp by them at night, 
until so near fort Kearny as to be past danger from the 
Indians. After this, we made our way alone, without further 
accident or delay, and had the great good fortune to arrive at 
Perry, Pike county, Illinois, about the middle of August, 1856, 
having made the journey from great Salt Lake city within the 
space of three months. Here we met, after a separation of 
•?ears, my oldest sister, Mrs. Deuzenbury, with a joy those 
who have followed us thus far can well imagine. My mother, 
now well spent in years, and broken in health, and above all, 
bowed to the dust with the sad conviction that Mormonism, 
for which she had sacrificed so much, was not only an error, 
and a cruel delusion, but a wicked fraud : she — my mother, 
now stood where fifteen years before she had made this sacri- 
fice in good faith, and where she had buried my father ; and 
wept such bitter tears as should have silenced the voice of cen- 
sure : howbeit, when once in the midst of these tears and 
unavailing regrets for the wrong she had done her children, 
a soft voice which she had heard that day for the first time 
for many years, whispered in her quick ear, doubly quick 
to words of blame, "How could you, nay mother, have taken 

the family to such a" But the sentence was stayed, arid 

mv mother's tears ceased to flow, as she said with a strange 



Conclusion. 385 

mingling o' enthusiasm for the faith as she first received it, 
and mortification at its prostitution since — " My child, but for 
Morraonism, I should not be able now to hear your question, or 
feel the pain of your censure. You do not remember that a 
Mormon elder, through the divine authority conferred upon 
him by the Prophet Joseph, restored my lost hearing. Aan 
though I now Badly mourn the perversion of our noble faith 
to unworthy purposes by the present Heads of the Church, 
am I to be blamed, that I still remember the time when it was 
pure ; or that I accepted at the hands of the great Prophet 
Joseph, the evidence of his exalted mission, confirmed by a 
miracle wrought upon my own person !" 

We spent two months at my sister's, in the full enjoyment 
of a reunion with our kindred, and in the free exercise of our 
natural rights in a Christian land ; a boon to which we had 
been strangers for the last fifteen years. 

It would be difficult to convey anything like a clear notion 
of our experience during these two months. ' Everything was 
new, not only in the manners and customs, and dress of the 
people, but in all their aims and ideas. I was particularly 
struck with the remarkable fact, that they were in the enjoy- 
ment of the absolute right of acting and thinking indepen- 
ently ; and governed by established laws ; it was not easy to free 
myself from the oppressive habit of squaring my conduct and 
wishes to comply with the Prophet's " counsel." But as yet 
I had heard nothing from my husband. This was now the 
only corroding care of my life. I supposed him to be in Cali- 
iornia, but had heard nothing from him for the last two 
years. The Prophet told me before I left Salt Lake city 

17 



386 Fifteen Years among the Mormons. 

that I must never think of seeing him again : and now Richard 
Cordon watched me with untiring care, evidently with a view 
to prevent my holding correspondence with him. I managed, 
however, to get other members of my family to write, and 
used every precaution not to arouse Richard's suspicions as 
to my aims. 

About the last of October we left Illinois for Hornellsville, 
Steuben county, N". Y., where we arrived in safety. Here we 
found a large number of my father's connections, as well as 
those of my mother, by whom we were well received. 

Remaining here until February of the following winter, I 
heard from my husband, with a joy, compared to which all 
other joys are but nothing. He was alive ; I could wait pati- 
ently while he was unharmed. He sent me assurances of his 
love, and said soon, very soon, he would be with me. 

When Richard knew what information I had received from 
my husband, he was at first furious, and said : " You shall 
never see him." But he Lad forgotten he was not in a Mor- 
mon land, where no law but the will of the Prophet is recog- 
nized ; and very quickly afterwards he saw the necessity of 
greater caution in speech while I was surrounded by the 
friends of my family. He at once assumed a different line of 
cor luct. Treating me with the greatest attention, he wished 
to induce me to go back to Illinois, where he hoped to keep 
me under his control ; and if I could not be induced to 
return to Utah, I have no doubt as to what he designed my 
fate should be. 

Feeling myself unsafe while near him, it was arranged 
that he should go on to Illinois with his wife, where I was U 



Conclusion. 387 

follow with my mother at a specified time. But when 
he was gone, I took care to put myself beyond his reach ; an<-' 
since then my whereabouts has been a subject of some specu 
lation sail uncertainty as far as he was concerned. 

When my new-found connections heard my story, they 
insisted that its publication was due the world ; and I have, 
by their advice, and under a high sense of duty, made written 
and verbal statements to a friend who has prepared the forego* 
ing narrative. 

When Richard Cordon heard of my intention to publish 
an account of my Mormon experience, he returned at once to 
Steuben county to find me, and being unable to do so, was 
very much exasperated. 

In conversation with one of my uncles, George Stephens, 
he said : " If Mary Ettie attempts to expose us (the Mor- 
mons), she shall rue it. It will be a dear job for her. Her 
blood shall flow." 

About two months after this, some excitement was created 
within the circle of my immediate friends by the appearance 
of a rough looking stranger among them, who, upon various 
pretences, wished to find me. He was described, by those who 
saw him, as every inch a villain in appearance; and was so 
persevering in his search, that measures were about to be 
taken for his arrest when he disappeared. 

I think my readers will not fail to sympathize with me 
when they are informed, in these closing lines of my story, 
that as yet, I have not seen my husband. That although I 
am in daily and hourly expectation of his coming, I wait as 
one whose hope is well nigh exhausted. The Prophet. Brig- 



388 Fifteen Teaks among the Mormons. 

ham Young, said I should never see him, and the Danite to 
whose care I have been intrusted in this land of the Gentiles, 
has said the same. Will they kill him ? September was the 
latest point of time beyond which he would allow any earthly 
consideration to detain him, as he has written me ; and this is 
the first of October, and he comes not yet. 



APPENDIX. 



CONTINUATION OF THE NARRATIVE. 

The "closing lines" of the foregoing Narrative, went to press 
about the middle of October, 1857, by which the sad story 
of Mrs. Smith and her mother was brought down to that 
date. Since then, events of the highest importance to ther 
have transpired. With a view of giving completeness U 
these personal histories, as well as to furnish full and satisfac- 
tory answers to the numerous inquiries from various quarters 
of the country, it is deemed proper and advisable to add the 
following new facts. 

Early in the fall of 1857, Mrs. Smith went to Old Forge, 
Luzern County, Pennsylvania, to the residence of her sister, 
Mrs. Phebe Knapp, near the place of her birth. The life of 
the mother was slowly ebbing away ; and it was fitting she 
should seek a tomb beside the crystal waters of the noisy 
Lackawanna, where much of her early life had been passed. 
Before leaving Hornellsville, Mrs. Coray had been bleeding 
violently at the lungs: and although she rallied somewhat 
at first, under the bracing influence of the pure air of the 
mountains, and the kindly attentions and sympathy of her 
kindred, yet it was soon evident that her race was nearly run. 

889 



S90 Appendix. 

She went to Pennsylvania still strong in her Mormon 
faith : and still believing in the " Prophet Joseph." The 
state of mind indicated in the "concluding chapter" (page 
385) was yet applicable. But toward spring, as the signs 
of an immediate dissolution thickened about her, that con- 
fidence in the "Prophet" slowly gave way; and as the 
memories of childhood, which the sight of former associa- 
tions recalled, rushed back upon her, with their thousand 
gentle and touching recollections, there came with them the 
image of the Cross, and her childhood's hope of salvation 
through. Christ; and when the summons finally came, she 
received it with joy, and died a Christian. The seed that 
had "fallen among thorns," had at length struggled into the 
light ; and at the last moment bore fruit abundantly. By 
her own request the " Endowment robes " were laid aside, 
and she received a Christian burial by the side of her an- 
cestors, at the hands of the Christian associates of hei 
youth. 

But during all this time, Mrs. Smith, in addition to the 
anxieties incident to the care of her mother, was watching 
and waiting the return of the husband, for whose safety she 
entertained so many fears. 

With repeated assurances of his safety and his good faith, 
month after month rolled away, and still he came not. Then 
followed cruel rumors which she was unable to reconcile 
with his known character. Time, and this continued sus- 
pense began to tell fearfully upon her health. But she had 
yet to meet other forms of Mormon intrigue for which she 
found herself but ill prepared. 

About the last of April, while watching. by the sick-bed 



Continuation of the Narrative. 391 

of her mother, she received a letter purporting to be from 
her nephew, Warren Duzenbury ; who lived at Perry, Pike 
Co., 111. Although, upon further examination, the letter was 
found to bear the unmistakable marks of Mormon influence, 
if not of Mormon origin, yet at the time, it was received by 
her as genuine. The letter stated with apparent frankness 
that the writer had seen a man then living near him, but 
lately returned from California, who knew her husband, 
Reuben P. Smith, and that he knew Mr. Smith had married 
into a family of wealth and position in Oregon, and was then 
living with his new wife in California. This was too much. 
Absence from her husband, while hope of his return yet re- 
mained to her, she could bear. But the idea that Reuben 
P. Smith could desert her, was a new horror, so completely 
overwhelming, that it cut off even the wish to fathom the 
mystery involved in the web of contradictions among which 
she found herself entangled. 

She who had successfully baffled the intrigues of the 
"Prophet," and had risen superior to danger, and fatigue, 
and suffering, during the fifteen long years of her sad Mor- 
mon experience ; now sunk without resistance before a fact — 
if fact it was — that rendered her life simply worthless. Her 
strong will, which had borne itself so heroically through so 
many difficulties, for the first time faltered ; and her physi- 
cal energy, wanting this support, faltered with it. Obstructed 
circulation intervened, and the delicate machinery of the 
heart refused to do its office. Danger of a permanent dis- 
ease of the heart was imminent, and a fatal termination was 
only averted bj copious bleeding and oth*r timely treat- 
ment, skillfully administered by the attending physician 



392 Appendix. 

(Dr. Henry A. Dorr, of Pittston, Pa.) When immediate 
danger was thus averted, it occurred to her that possibly this 
story of the infidelity of her husband was a Mormon inven- 
tion. She then took measures, by availing herself of the 
assistance of her brother-in-law, Burier Griffin, then in Cali- 
fornia, to solve the problem at once. It was better to know 
the truth, whatever it might be. Nothing could be more 
fatal to her than continued uncertainty. But, as will be 
seen by Mr. Smith's statement, while Mr. Griffin was thus 
making his investigations in California, and before he had 
found Mr. Smith, the latter, by a rare good fortune, happened 
to receive one of the many letters his wife had written him, 
which had the effect to render the assistance of Mr. Griffin 
unnecessary. 

The reader will understand, that up to this time, most of 
their letters sent through the mails had been mysteriously 
diverted from the channel intended and indicated by the di- 
rection; but that both had received, at various times, let- 
ters, which as has since been ascertained, misrepresented 
both ; with the apparent intention of keeping them apart. 

In a state of mind which it is impossible for those fully to 
appreciate who are not well versed in the mysteries of 
Mormonism, Mrs. Smith was still waiting, with but small 
hope, the return of her husband ; yet having confidence in 
his good faith. Whatever else had happened or might hap- 
pen, she still clung to a belief in that honest manliness which 
at one and the same time had won her to himself, and had 
been instrumental in bringing her to doubt the " Prophet * 
and Mormonism. Time wore on, and with it wore away the 
life of the mother. 



Continuation of the Narrative. 393 

One evening Mrs. Smith sat by the mother's bedside, and 
watched her slow and troubled breathing with unusua.. 
anxiety. The physician had just told her what she might 
expect within the next three days. The journey of the 
mother's eventful life was about to end. It was the 14th of 
August, 1858. A calm twilight had followed a quiet sunset. 
The hush and silence which hung upon the creeping shadows 
were relieved only by the impatient murmur of the river near 
by — the bright and fretful Lackawanna, which " uttered its 
voice " from its rocky bed that night, with all its wonted 
earnestness. 

Who shall fathom those two human hearts ! The crushed 
and nearly broken spirit of the silent watcher by the bed 
of death — and the dying mother. The world had dealt 
harshly enough with both, but with one it had nearly lost 
it* hold. 

There is something infinitely touching in the going down 
to the grave, slowly, and sedately, and alone, of a well bal- 
anced mind and a strong will; with its full load of errors — 
crippled by age, and disappointment, and that stern necessi- 
ty which knows no relenting — if haply the fall be broken 
£>y the Rock of Ages. It resolves the enigma of life, and the 
mystery of death — submission — faith ! " Christ receive us." 

But who shall analyze the emotions of Mrs. Smith ? Why 
does she yet tarry ? Why does the mother go alone ? Had 
they not suffered, and explored, and believed, and doubted, 
and apostatized, together ? And now, had they not come 
back together to the faith of their ancestors ? Had not she 
too finished her work ? When strong men of the world, 
who were governed merely by the questionable maxim* of 

17* 



394 Appendix. 

political prudence, lad wanted the courage to say frankly to 
their fellow men what they knew of the abominations of 
Mormonihm, had she not spoken openly the truth, and trusted 
the issue to God ? 

What, though the public authorities may be misled for 
the time by officious Mormons in disguise ; and what though 
injudicious " Proclamations," and " Peace Commissions," 
may compromise the national dignity by unworthy negotia- 
tions with outlaws ; and by making terms with crime; shall 
not the future public sense avenge the outrage ? 

Truth has nothing to fear from the future. It is only the 
truckling importunity of the hour — at once audacious and 
time-serving — that is liable to overpower it. That " Book of. 
Martyrs " is defective which records only the deaths of the 
sufferers for truth's sake. It is the living and unscrupulous 
present that can roast most cruelly, while it spares with 
ostentatious show; and pursues absolutely without mercy for 
the attainment of momentary ends ; with entire indifference 
as to what possible opinion posterity may entertain as to it. 

Were these her thoughts ? Perhaps. Whatever they may 
have been, they were interrupted, when it was near dark, by 
a knock at the door. Then followed the inquiry by a manly 
voice: "Does Mrs. Smith, lately from Utah, live here?" 
That voice could not be mistaken. She had last heard it in 
Mormon land, more than five long, long years ago ; and she 
had not forgotten it. After looking for several moments at 
the stranger standing in the open door, where he was partly 
obscured by the darkness, she said : " Oh, Smith ! Reuben ! !" 
Mrs. Knapp, who had heard the knock and was about to 
answer the summons at the door, was nearly paralyzed when 



CONTINUATION" OF THE NARRATIVE. 395 

she heard this exclamation from her sister ; for she felt she 
was about to realize the fear which had of late oppressed 
her, viz., that Mary Ettie would in the end go mad, if her 
husband should not return. She therefore said to her: 
" Ettie, come with me. You need sleep. You have watched 
with mother so long, you are worn out. That is not your 
husband." 

But it did not matter Two true, human souls, long sepa- 
rated by Mormon intrigue, were now face to face. Who 
shall understand the mute investigation which their brief 
communion vouchsafed them ? It had been represented to 
each that the other had married again ; and now both 
silently questioned of the past. But good faith needs not 
the intervention of words to make itself understood. The 
stranger faltered, but not long, for he saw how it was ; and 
as Mrs. Knapp essayed to lead her sister away, he said, in a 
tone of voice wanting somewhat the firmness it possessed at 
first : " She is right. I am Smith. She is my wife !" 

We leave the reader to imagine the scene, and the expla- 
nations which followed. Although the mother was already 
too far gone to speak with ease, she gave Mr. Smith a smile 
of recognition, as she felt his band and heard his voice; and 
afterwards she was able to say, " I always told Mary Ettie you 
would come." These were her last words. She lingered, 
however, for three days longer, and died on the 17th. 

Her funeral was attended by a large concourse of her 
sympathizing friends and old neighbors, as well as by many 
strangers who had heard her story, from the Wyoming and 
Lackawanna valleys and the surrounding hills ; and, as was 
very fitting, the religious services were conducted by Elder 



396 Appendix. 

Mott, the Baptist minister at Hyde Park, Luzern county, Pa f 
who had known Mrs. Coray and her husband when they 
were young, which he stated from the pulpit ; he also said, 
he had kept track of the family most of the time since. 

The little that yet remains to be told, in order to a full 
kiiderstanding of the foregoing, will be found in the state- 
ment of Eeuben P. Smith, annexed. 

Dansville, JST. Y., Sept. 30, 1858. 

Statement of Reuben P. Smith, in continuation of the ac- 
count given of him by his wife, Mary Ettie V. Smith ; 
from page 242 of her Narrative, entitled "Fifteen Years 
among the Mormons? etc., made at Danville, N. Y. 
August 28, 1858. 

STATEMENT. 

I propose to give a brief account of my personal adven- 
tures since my separation from my wife, so far as it is con, 
nected with her Narrative, and particularly so far as it may 
serve to illustrate and expose Mormonism ; but before doing 
this, I deem it proper to give some account of my birth and 
parentage. 

I was born near West Union, Adams county, Ohio. My 
grandfather, Reuben Smith, had three sons: Joseph, Joel 
and John B. The last-named was my father. My uncle 
Joel is now living on Brush Creek, near my birth-place ; and 
Joseph at Selina, 111. My father moved to Stringtown, Iowa f 
where he died in 1847. My mother was Elizabeth Chap- 
man, and a sister of Joseph Chapman ; the latter somewhat 
celebrated as a politician and stump orator at the West, Ho 



Continuation of the Narrative. 397 

?*as an old-school Democrat, and edited and published a 
paper entitled the " Koon Skinner," at Indianapolis. He was 
better known there as " Crowing Chapman." He com- 
manded a company of volunteeis in the Mexican war, and 
died on his way back. 

Since my return from California, I have examined carefully 
the foregoing Narrative of my wife, Mary Ettie V. Smith ; 
and as far as I have been able to discover, it is correct ; with 
the unimportant exception, that she appears to have con- 
founded my object in going to California, mentioned on page 
240, with that mentioned on page 242. It was at the latter 
time that I went on my own business. At the time first 
mentioned, I was in the employ of Major Hollman, Indian 
Agent of the Territory. I accompanied him to Humboldt 
Eiver and Carson Valley, where he went to distribute the 
goods due the different Indian tribes in that vicinity. We 
were gone about three months ; and before our return to 
Great Salt Lake, we crossed the Sierra Nevada into Califor- 
nia, to sell some extra horses the major had on hand. Our 
party was composed of young men, Mormons and Gentiles 
picked up for the occasion at Great Sail Lake. The Indian 
interpreter on this expedition was a Canadian Frenchman, 
named Papa, between whom and myself there soon grew up 
a strong friendship. Papa was an old mountaineer, one of 
that celebrated class of rangers who knew the mountains and 
the plains, and loved them immensely. He wore under his 
greasy hunting shirt a brave and true heart, and was influ- 
enced only by honest purposes. He had conceived a strong 
dislike to the Mormons, and waf always seeking some way to 
thwart their aims, 



398 Appendix. 

He once said, in his rough and droll way, that he would 
give twenty years of his life, for the privilege of playing for 
as many minutes upon Brigham Young's house with a can- 
non, if he only knew his precious " Twelve Apostles " were 
with him. When he found how I was situated, he volun- 
teered to get my wife away. He said, if I would go on to 
California, he would bring her to me within the year, which 
I have no doubt he would have done, had he lived. His 
family were with his father-in-law, at Devil's Gate, on the 
Sweetwater, near the South Pass. He left us at Salt Lake, 
to go home; but we soon heard of his death, and I could 
never learn the cause of it. His imprudence in speech had 
probably brought him under the notice of the Mormon 
authorities. 

It was in the fall of 1852 that Major Hollman's party 
returned to the city. The major, immediately after this, 
went on to Fort Bridger f to look after something connected 
with his official duties ; and having been delayed unavoida- 
bly, he was overtaken by the snows, and was obliged to pass 
the winter there. 

He had left his horses and mules in my charge, and in 
order to procure good grass, I took them to Utah, forty miles 
south of the city. I left a man to look after them, and re- 
turned to Salt Lake City ; and soon after, two of the mules 
were stolen. 

The mules were missed about the time of the passage of 
the Mormon train from the city to San Bernardino, in charge, 
I think, of Charles C. Eich and Amasy Lyman, by whom I 
have always believed they were taken. I advertised for 
them in the " Deseret News," but the only thing that ever 



Continuation of the Narrative. 399 

came of it was, the kncwing laugh it occasioned aincng the 
Mormons. This was one of the many things that opened 
my eyes to the real state of things in Utah, and more fully 
determined me to leave the Territory. 

As will be seen by the beginning of chap. 23 of the fore- 
going Narrative, I had made arrangements to go to Cali- 
fornia with Mr. Mac. He could not delay ; and although 
Major Hollman had not returned, I went on to Bear River 
leaving the horses in the care of John Hammer, a Mormon,* 
expecting Mac would join me there, and bring my wife. But 
it appears that after I had left the city, some horses, and 
other mules were stolen, and when Major Hollman returned, 
late in the spring, he was told by the Mormons that I had 
aken them. 

The major, after some trouble, found them all, except the 
two mules first mentioned, in the possession of Mormons, 
who claimed they had bought them of me before I left, which 
I afterwards heard Major Hollman at first believed, but I 
am well satisfied he finally understood how it was, for he 
afterwards came to California, and passed within two miles 
of where he knew I was stopping ; and although he spoke of 
me, and expressed a wish to see me, he said nothing that in- 
dicated a loss of confidence. Had I been informed of his 
being there at the time, I should have taken all pains to 
have met him ; and I know I could have shown him that the 
hand of Mormonism was at the bottom of it. Indeed, I have 
since learned by my wife and others, that tho mystery of the 

* This Hammer is the brot ler-in-law of John Norton, the " Dan- 
ite ;" whether he is himself a " Danite " I never knew. As to Nor- 
ton, gee Chap. xxiv. and xxv of this Narrative. 



400 Appendix. 

disappearance of Major H oilman's stock, was a standing joke 
among the Mormons at the city for a long time afterward. 
He is now in the States, as I understand, and I should be 
glad to have this statement meet his eye. My relations 
with him in Utah were of the most pleasant and agreeable 
character. 

It was the middle of April, 1853, that I left great Salt 
Lake City for the last time. I had some young cattle which 
I wished to take with me, and I joined my drove with one of 
about the same size, owned by Charles Hunt, and we travel- 
led in company for mutual protection. We were also accom- 
panied by Captain Mott and his family, who were going to 
Carson Valley. This Captain Mott is the man mentioned on 
page 55 of the foregoing Narrative. He had brought tha 
bell there mentioned, with his own team all the way from 
Nauvoo, and when it was delivered safe and sound at Salt 
Lake, the Prophet, contrary to Mott's reasonable expecta- 
tions, refused to pay for this important service. Mott there- 
upon grew dissatisfied, and sold a claim which he had on the 
American Fork, about ten miles north of Provo, and pre- 
pared to leave, thinking, that if he went to the Mormon 
settlement at Carson Valley, his design possibly might not 
be understood. But the Heads of the Church were not de- 
ceived, and when we had arrived at Willow Creek, sixty 
miles from the city, he was taken back, upon the pretence 
that the title to the claim which he had sold was defective. 
After he had shown this to be untrue, he was permitted to 
rejoin his family ; but he was again arrested when we had 
proceeded fifteen miles farther, upon the pretence that his 
tithing had not been paid. 



Continuation of the Nakratiye. 401 

We went on to Bear River, where we all encamped, to 
await the result as to his case, as well as to watch for the 
coming of my wife, where Mac had agreed to bring her. We 
were now eighty miles from the Mormon capital. It was 
uncertain how long we might be detained, or what the real 
intentions of the Church toward us were. 

After a few days, however, Captain Mott came to us again, 
accompanied by some Gentile emigrants, by whom I learned 
that my wife had been detected in her efforts to escape, and 
that she was to be detained. 

I saw how useless it would be to remain longer for her, 
and our train then moved on for California. I had not yet 
heard of the death of Papa, and I entertained the hope that 
he would be able to carry out .his proposed plan of her res- 
cue. When I afterwards heard that he was dead, I felt that 
there was but small hope of her escape, at least not through 
the agency of any power outside the " Church." There were 
several Mormons at the city who pretended to be my friends, 
and through whose good offices I still hoped to regain my 
wife. 

Our train advanced without further interference or delav, 
and we commenced our slow journey over the plains and 
sandy deserts, to Humboldt River, where we arrived in the 
fore part of June, without other accident than the loss often 
or twelve head of cattle, stolen as we supposed by the In- 
dians, under cover of a stampede. How it was in our case 
we were unable to determine ; but many, and perhaps most 
of these depredations upon the property of emigrants while 
crossing from Utah to California, as also those in the moun- 
tains, are the works of Mormons disguised as Indians. 



402 Appendix. 

The Mormons, as a people, have been greatly distinguished 
for enterprise, and for a rapid growth in wealth. Success 
undoubtedly has a tendency, with many of us, to cover a 
" multitude of sins ;" but perhaps it has not occurred to those 
who profess to find in this apparent success of Mormonism, 
as a social and political system, evidence of industry and fru- 
gality, and as a consequence, a proof of that high state of 
social virtue and moral rectitude, which right aims (how- 
ever much misguided), will often secure ; to ask the ques- 
tion, how a people could become so rich in so short a time 
who produce so little of any article capable of a profitable ex- 
change with the rest of mankind. The overflowing coffers 
of the "Prophet" are unquestionably more or less indebted 
to the liberal contributions of converts from foreign coun- 
tries ; but making a fair allowance for this " source of reve- 
nue," we are still unable to account for the unparalleled 
wealth of the " Church." 

The " Church store " at Great Salt Lake city is always 
full, and the "Church brand" is borne by innumerable cat- 
tle, and the amount of public buildings, and roads, and 
bridges, and the work and money already expended upon 
the temple, is almost without a precedent in the his- 
tory of human enterprise. It must be recollected that 
while all these public enterprises have been in successful 
execution, every member of the Church has had his own 
houses and barns to build, and his own farm to bring under 
cultivation, and when these things have been hastily put in 
order, he has been obliged to take his turn in filling a foreign 
mission, and hence, few of them can be producers at home. 

The conclusion is unavoidable, that, from the very nature 



Continuation of the Narrative. 403 

of the facts of the case, and from the known character and 
aims of the people, there must be some important source of 
revenue, other than that which appears upon the surface of 
things +n Utah. The Mormons are enterprising — fiercer 
and unrelentingly so — but theirs is not the energy of an 
honest purpose ; nor are they producers, but appropriators 
of whatever comes in their way. "The earth is the Lord's, 
and the " Saints are to possess the earth." This is the key 
to Mormonism. What they cannot do by force, they will 
effect by fraud and cunning. 

The " Prophet " has interdicted the working in the gold 
mines in California by his people ; but the discovery of gold 
Miere, has been the saving clause with the " Church v in 
Jtah. When everything else failed, there was one resource 
left. There were the California emigrants to rob and plun- 
der ; and they have been mercilessly robbed and plundered : 
and latterly, more than at first, it has been deemed safest to 
cut off all chance of detection, by killing the people they 
have robbed. 

A full record of these robberies, often accompanied as 
they have been by assassination, would be perfectly appalling. 
It would be the darkest of those yet unwritten chapters of 
the secret history of the " Church in the wilderness." No- 
thing else, among the annals of the " West," can bear to it 
the shadow of a comparison. Age, sex, helplessness — the 
appeal for mercy — simple mercy from the defenceless ; no- 
thing — nothing could stay the hand that would sooner " for- 
get its cunning," than disobey this pretended "Prophet of 
God." 

is it possible that Mr. Buchanan comprehended the char* 



4:04 Appendix. 

acter of the men between whom and the halte: he has in- 
terposed his official protection ? If he did, God help him. 

We left Captain Mott at Carson Valley, and after recruit- 
ing our cattle for several weeks upon the rich grasses which 
abound in that vicinity, we crossed the Sierra Nevada into 
California, and arrived without material accident at Cosum- 
nes, Sacramento county, where I sold my stock, and re- 
mained for eight months in the employ of Solomon Mizer. 
After this I worked in the mines at Spanish Camp, four 
months, and then went to Sacramento City, where I re- 
mained six months ; when my brother, William J. Smith, 
came to me from Iowa, and we went to Live Oak City, and 
bought a mining claim together, which we worked tho- 
roughly for three months, at a dead loss ; for owing to the 
peculiarity of the soil, it failed to pay. 

We then bought a farm on Cache Creek, which we worked 
with better success for two years, and were making money, 
when we were dispossessed by an order of the court in favor 
of other parties, claiming under a Spanish title. We then 
went to Suisun Valley, where we bought a rancho, and 
remained until July 19th, 1858, when I left California for 
the east. 

During all this time, the one great aim of my life, to which 
all others were subordinate, was the rescue of Mary Ettie 
torn her Mormon imprisonment. 

While at Cosumnes, I met Eiley Judd, as I supposed at 
the time accidentally, who was just from Salt Lske, and he 
told me my wife had made an attempt to escape, by disguis- 
ing herself in men's clothing, but had failed. He professed 
to be friendly to us, and I sent her thirty dollars >y him, ten 



CONTINTJATION OF THE NARRATIVE. 405 

of which he kept, telling Ettie it had been stolen from him. I 
soon after received a letter from my wife, acknowledging the 
letter, and part of the money sent by Judd, but telling me 
to send no more money after that, as the Mormons would 
manage to get it from her. I received after this one or two 
letters, but finally I failed to get anything through the mails 
that I recognized as being from her hand, but I had no diffi- 
culty in keeping up a correspondence with others at Salt 
Lake City, who had taken an interest in us. I frequently 
received letters from Wiley Norton, but his statements were 
so contradictory, and unaccountable, that they only served 
to increase my embarrassment. 

Through these channels, the only ones now open to me, I 
was soon informed that Mary Ettie now regretted her mar- 
riage, and that it would be easy enough for her to get to me 
if she wished. In fact, that she had repudiated me, and was 
already seeking another husband. 

At this time, and during my stay in California, it so hap- 
pened, either by accident or design, that the Mormons 
always kept track of my whereabouts. Whenever I changed 
my place of residence, which I often did quietly to avoid 
them, some one from Salt Lake would soon appear at my 
new locality, though before unknown there, and inquire me 
out, on the score of old acquaintance, always professing the 
greatest friendship for me, and giving some new account of 
Mary Ettie having a tendency to estrange us. 

Some time in September, 1856, 1 received a letter from my 
wife, and, at the same time, from others of her family, giving 
me the information that she had effected an escape from 
Utah, *ud was then at Perry, Pike county, 111. The letter 



4:06 Appendix, 

involved several contradictions, and the account it gave o« 
her escape was not satisfactory. This, with the conflictinj 
accounts before received from Utah, suggested the idea o 
looking further into the facts before deciding what to do, I 
therefore wrote to rny brother, H. C. Smith, at String' >wn, 
Iowa, and awaited his answer. But soon after th' < I re- 
ceived another letter from her, saying, in a ver, few and 
hard words, that she had married a man by t]^ name of 
Thompson. There were other things in t> j letter ; but 
this was all I read. This was enough — too aiuch. 

I happened to be in Sacramento City «ne following winter 
(1857), and there met a Mormon with whom I had had a 
passing acquaintance in Utah, from whence he had just ar- 
rived. He said he was on his way to China as a missionary. 
Among other things, he told me — apparently without having 
any interest in the matter — that Mary Ettie had lately been 
married to a man named Thompson. He said he was welJ 
acquainted with her new husband. 

Some time in the following spring, I received another let- 
ter, purporting to be from a Mr. Watkins, of Illinois, giving 
me the same pleasant information. I knew no such man ; * 

* It is now known that at this time Allen Cunningham was wito 
Richard Cordon, and that the " stranger " from California (believed 
to be a Mormon), referred to by Warren Duzenbury in his letter to 
Mary Ettie (who was represented as saying, "I know R. P. Smith, 
and know he has married again "), was also, at this time, at Perry, 
Pike Co., 111., and was living in the same house with Cordon. 

The character of Cunningham will be understood by referring to 
pages 235 and 367 of the foregoing Narrative. 

The fact that these three rogues were together, leaves but little 
doubt as to their " mission," and still less doubt as to who wrote this 
Watkins letter. 



Continuation of the Narrative. 407 

but the singular agreement of his statement with the infor- 
mation before received, as to the one important fact, viz., 
that Mary Ettie had been faithless, and was now lost to me, 
seemed to cut off all inducement for further investigation. 
The statement over her own signature appeared to be con- 
clusive. It did not occur to me at the time, that possibly 
the letters bearing her name were forgeries ; and it was long 
afterward, and under a more fortunate state of things, that 
Mary Ettie herself pointed out to me the fact, that the letter 
of Watkins, and the one bearing her own signature, had 
evidently been written by one and the same hand, and that 
neither were written by her. 

Things were in this position until January, 1858, when 
mv brother wrote me that he had made what investigation 
he could, but that he found himself embarrassed in coming 
to a determination as to the merits of the case, but that he 
was satisfied that one of two things was true, " Mary Ettie," 
he said, " is either the best or the most questionable of wo- 
men." 

He had not seen her, but she had not married again. 
This letter was followed by another from him, under date of 
June 12th, 1858, saying frankly and emphatically that he 
was now satisfied, that for reasons which were as yet not 
clear to him, interested parties were seeking to keep Mary 
Ettie and myself apart ; but that he believed her every way 
Reserving ; that if he had such a wife, no earthly power 
should keep him from her. 

I had before this determined to seek her out, and solve 
the mystery for myself, as soon as my business could be ar- 
ranged ; and yet I felt I had but small foundation for hope. 



408 Appendix. 

from all I knew of Mary Ettie, I believed her incapable ol 
deception. She was frank to a fault. Had she not told me 
over her own signature that she had married again ? And 
yet I wished to see and hear from her own mouth what ex 
planation was possible ; not so much that I yet clung to the 
hope that she was not altogether lost to me, as that she 
should, if she could, vindicate her sex : for I am free to ac- 
knowledge, that had I found her at last wanting in good 
faith, I should not have looked for that virtue elsewhere. 
But while in a state of mind wanting equally the determina- 
tion to go, or to refrain from going, I received a letter which 
I at once recognized as being from under her own hand. It 
had about it the odor of other days, and at once determined 
me what to do. The letter reached me Saturday, July 17 th, 
1858, and "Monday, the 19th, two days after, I left Suisun 
Valley, California, on my way to find her. 

It is often easier to do, than to decide what to do. The 
journey from San Francisco to New York, by the Isthmus, 
was accomplished in due time without accident, and on the 
14th of August, 1858, 1 arrived at Old Forge, Luzern Co. 
Pa., where, as before narrated, I found Mary Ettie. 



ERRATA. 

For Tooille, In chapter 30, and wherever this name occurs in this book, real 
Tooele. 
Also, for Kearny, read Kearney, wherever this name occurs. 
Also, In chapter xii., for Tank!*, read Tarkio. 



